Murder at Primrose Cottage (Flora Steele mystery) Merryn Allingham

It was the bookshop owner bit that drew me in first time around and this is my second read of the series. The books are fine as a stand alone, always a good thing. Flora is accompanying Jake on his writing expedition. He has to write a book (he has promised his publisher) and Flora is there to make sure that research and helping him out to achieve this. She did not expect in rural Cornwall in a most picturesque setting to find a body. The body of the owner of the cottage brutally murdered just a few hours after they met. Local detectives seem to be taking their own sweet time in linking the dots, finding suspects so Flora decides to pursue her own investigation into the case. Both Flora and Jake did not imagine it would take them to the post WWII years and a secret that had to be hidden at any cost - both of them were totally oblivious of what was happening but when a series of accidents could not be written off as mere coincidence they do realise it is imperative to find out who is behind the whole dangerous game. This was a beautiful setting, very descriptive and though Flora and Jake are sometimes quite quirky it all dovetails very neatly into a very readable story. Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks by Julie Valerie

A young woman trying to hold it all together. The description is that of a contemporary novel and this is a light hearted read of a woman hoping to achieve all what she wants to do, over extending herself and in the process creates this story which is very easy to read. Holly is a young mother, part of a community and a wife plus a budding film maker. She wants to establish herself very much as part of the this small community and not just be an isolated person. To this end she tries to adapt to changing circumstances, changing people and still keep true to her dreams. The book was sent by Lake Union Publishing for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley. On another note our country is going through such turmoil and trouble that it influences your every waking moment. We have power outages of upto ten hours, queues for petrol and diesel and cooking gas. The loss in employment will come soon enough - we have thousands of daily paid workers who are on the front line of losing their jobs. Everything is in shambles and we are going to accept that it is going to get much worse before it gets better.

Shadow in the Glass by M E Hilliard

Greer is there to celebrate her friend's wedding and to help out in the elaborate arrangements made at the various events. It is a posh, upscale wedding, no expenses spared and a murder is not what you would expect. It casts a pall on the post celebration because we have detectives all over the place and Greer herself feels that there is more to it than meets the eye, because the entire Whittaker family seems to have secrets which they have successfully hidden for decades. Whether the wedding was the catalyst for it to all come breaking down is left to be seen. This is more or less an amateur detective trying to link clues together with no help from others because the family themselves want history kept as history. It begins to unravel slowly but this was a slow detective read not a page turner. The police do not seem to be doing anything at all, and whether it is the influence of the family or sheer ineptitude I never could find out. Sent by Crooked Lane Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

Ocean State by Stewart O"Nan

This was another story where the whole explanation of who did what came from the first page. We worked backwards after that. The story of how complicated life can be between a single family of mother and two daughters. The relationships are difficult. All three are very different personalities and each one is trying to have a "proper" life in the way they want to. The mother is a never ending stream of relationships, hoping that the next will be the one. The elder daughter wanting something more from life other than this small town and the youngest just wanting to be loved and to survive in the bullying, competitive world they live in. There are on the sidelines the boys which form part of the teenage triangles. They are not worth fighting over and losing your entire life over but that is teenage angst and that is what happens. The characters are mostly not likable and at one point I almost gave up on the story. The 13 year old Marie is the one you empathize with but she is fighting a losing battle with no one seeing the frightened child she actually is. Its a compelling story well told. Sent by Grove Atlantic for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Mystery of the Hawke Sapphires (Charles Dickens and Superintendent Jones Book No. 7)

I'm hoping that the series does not end because I am enjoying these books so very much. Its not just the story complicated and devious as it is, but it is the setting of London I like, the juxtaposition of rich and absolute poor together and how they seem to co-exist seamlessly the rich either unaware of their neighbours and the poor just accepting their fate. How come a rebellion never happened? To get to our story, we have a horrible man Sir Gerald Hawke on his deathbed ordering Meredith Chase a mild man if ever there was one to find Sapphire Hawke his ward, who has disappeared into thin air not heard of for decades. The search starts from the convent where she was sent in Belgium, moves back to the village to which she came back to where no one has seen or heard of her and then disappears into thin air. Presumed dead, Meredith Chase appeals to Dickens who somehow gets embroiled in the case in the midst of a pawnbroker, a murder and more devious dealings - they set to find the missing girl. The solving of the mystery and the murders is part of the novel but finding why Sapphire Hawke disappeared and was found again is hinted at the very opening and you do know that the beginning and end are linked. A different way of writing a story certainly. This was a free download from Amazon. Unfortunately I am not allowed to permit publication of my reviews on Amazon!

Front Page Murder by Joyce St. Anthony

A small town in America during the second world war and Irene has taken over from her father who now works as a war correspondent. Her appointment does not go down well with many, who still feel that this taking over of men's jobs is a temporary feature and one which will have to be handed back to the men when they return Her own mother refuses to acknowledge her daughter's contribution as editor of the local paper and painstakingly likes to indicate that what Irene is doing is not quite right. When one of her correspondents (not the most popular bloke in the office) is found dead in his apartment, and when the local head of police is calling it an accident when everything points to it being very suspicious, Irene starts on her own to investigate the so called accident and stumbles upon several clues which point in just the direction of upto now undiscovered spies in the local company providing employment to many and supplying the American war effort. When Jews are targetted and the Police are still uninvolved, Irene steps up her detection to get to the bottom of it. The characters were just right from Irene who was steady and Peggy who supported her throughout, to the mother as well as the other unsavory characters as well. It is the first of a series and should do well in a series. Sent by Crooked Lane books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander

Louise and her father were a closely knit unit. After the devastating loss of her mother, Louise has now found her niche in the literary world of editing and is on the cusp of her dream job. When a long lost uncle calls up to inform her of the death of her grandmother, who has in her will left "something" for her Emily does not think the something is as huge as an impeccable Victorian mansion along with a literary inheritance which is slightly different from the norm. Louise has contradictory feelings for her inheritance especially since her father is totally opposed to her staying on in Cascata and wants her to just leave. She feels a tie to the house and to the literary side left to her and this is what keeps her rooted there. For Louise, there are many unanswered questions and the family in Cascata feel that it is not their place to enlighten her as to what went wrong. She has to somehow discover it for herself and in the process then take a decision as to her future. The mix of reality and surreal is a strange mix, something I am not very fond of in reading but it was very appropriate to this particular story. The descriptiveness of the area, the house itself which sounded so beautiful added to the story itself. And the ending tied it all together! Sent by Sweet Lemon Press LLC for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.