Jacey and Rob move to England for his job. Their home is huge but also increasingly scary. What secrets are the couple hiding and what is happening at the house…?
The Perfect Couple is a psychological thriller with a strong supernatural theme.
Jacey and Rob’s marriage isn’t as perfect as they pretend. He is short tempered and takes every opportunity to malign his wife. He is lying about his whereabouts and Jacey is starting to suspect an affair. She is starting to experience strange symptoms where she zones out and finds it difficult to concentrate. Her anxiety is heightened by the spooky house with creepy noises and strange visions of a young boy. Meanwhile she also wants to discover the truth about her grandmother’s move to America.
There are three clear layers to the plot: the deteriorating relationship between Rob and Jacey, the unsettling house and the mystery about her grandmother’s past. Poor Jacey really is under attack on all sides and is struggling with the pressure of her existence in a haunted house with a horrid husband. My heart went out to her and I was desperate for her to stand up to Rob and walk away.
There are lots of mysteries and secrets for Jacey to uncover: her husband’s secret trips to London, her blackouts and confusion, other people’s unsettling remarks about her home and grandmother. I didn’t particularly like Jacey but I felt sorry for her and wanted her to get the truth and find some happiness. There is a wonderful tension and dark atmosphere created and sustained over the course of the book.
The Perfect Couple is an intriguing book with lots going on!
Rob assures me it will be an adventure for us: a year in England living in a gothic mansion. He has a new job and, as his wife, I’ll support him. It will be good for our marriage.
But as soon as we arrive at the house it starts.
The noises.
The voices.
Why can no one else hear anything?
The boy.
Why can no one else see him?
And now Rob is acting strangely. Distant. Dismissive. When I raise it he gets angry. He tells me it’s all in my head. But I can hear the bells in the woods. I can see the boy.
I make friends but I feel they know more than they tell me. Worst of all, they freeze when I tell them where I’m from. Who I am.
I feel myself unravelling. I’m not wrong. There is a secret here that everyone knows. Everyone except me.
This trip of a lifetime is turning into a perfect nightmare.
Jane’s Bio
Jane McLoughlin was born and raised in the USA, but has spent most of her adult life in the UK. A former teacher, she has previously published novels for young people, which were nominated for various awards, including the Carnegie Award and the Branford Boase Prize. She has two grown up children, and lives in Brighton. The Perfect Couple is her debut novel for adults.
A dead body with a bullet in the the head, unidentifiable as it hasn’t been found for a year. A fresh corpse in the adjacent room. Is one of them a missing gangster who disappeared after a diamond heist?
Dig Two Graves is the first book in a new series of police procedural/crime thrillers featuring Detective Superintendent Hedley Sharpe.
Chloe is unhappily married to a bully with dealings with Dean Rawlins and together the men stole diamonds. She is devastated after the stillbirth of her daughter and now she has been uprooted to a new house. She is also being threatened by Dean’s ex. How much more can she take?
Hedley Sharpe is a great new detective. He is overweight, middle aged, sarcastic, cynical. There is pain in his past due to the murder of his wife. He is tenacious and is determined to bring gangster Dean Rawlins to justice although he won’t be too disappointed if someone else disposes of him first.
Hedley barely seems to appear in the first part of the book but, as more bodies are discovered, the police investigation becomes more prominent. The pace of the plot races along and the writing style is quite dialogue driven.
Dig Two Graves is an enjoyable start to a new series and I look forward to catching up with Hedley soon.
Book Description
MEET DETECTIVE HEDLEY SHARPE IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW CRIME SERIES FULL OF STUNNING TWISTS.
A brand-new mystery from #1 bestselling author Helen H. Durrant that will have you gripped from start to explosive finish.
Day 1. Chloe Todd believes her baby daughter is sleeping peacefully in her pram in the back garden. She lifts away the blanket to check on her — and gasps in shock.
Chloe’s neighbour calls the police. But all is not as it seems . . .
Day 2. Superintendent Hedley Sharpe is called to a murder scene in the city centre. A body is discovered in a cellar beneath an empty shop. A single shot to the head. The victim has been dead at least a year.
Day 3. A second body is found in the cellar next door. Again a single bullet wound in the head. But this time the body is fresh.
Hedley Sharpe doesn’t believe in coincidence. The two murders must be linked. Then he uncovers a connection to young mother Chloe Todd — and the case takes an extraordinary twist.
Hedley’s investigations will unearth a series of dark secrets. Secrets that reach back into his own troubled past.
Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel McLean, Joy Ellis, J.D. Kirk, Rachel Abbott, Elly Griffiths or J.M. Dalgliesh.
READERS LOVE HELEN H. DURRANT’S ADDICTIVE POLICE PROCEDURALS:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Full of suspense with a storyline that kept me guessing right up until the end.’ Annette T.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A really good read . . . the perfect balance of investigation versus personal drama for the lead.’ Linda B.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The start of a fabulous new series from Helen H. Durrant . . . Brilliant book — I loved it!’ Charlotte M.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A very enjoyable read and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.’ Sandra G.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This is a gripping edge-of-your-seat thriller that will have you turning page after page all the way to the end. Absolutely brilliant.’ Jill B.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Another stunningly good police procedural from Helen H. Durrant. Fabulous plot and great characters, with everything I want from a whodunnit.’ Amanda P.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Thoroughly gripping and suspenseful with an astonishing surprise. Not one to be missed.’ Carol S.
THE DETECTIVE Superintendent Hedley Sharpe is a long-serving detective working for Manchester’s Major Crime Division. He is something of a rough diamond, but has an excellent clear-up rate. A widower, Hedley lives a lonely life, existing on fast-food takeaways. His wife Emily was murdered some years previously. Her killer was never caught.
HELEN H. DURRANT
OVER 1.5 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
Helen is one of the ‘baby boomer’ generation and began writing when she retired from her job at a local college. Born in Edinburgh to an English father and Scottish mother the family settled in a Pennine village between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is an environment which has shaped her stories. Writing is a second career and, despite having a bus pass, keeps her busy, and tuned in.
Helen’s children are all grown-up and she has five grandchildren.
Happy 17th birthday to Tanzi! She had a tough start in life being a teen mum, her brother drowning and then the next week she was run over and had her tail amputated, all by the time she was 14 months old! Despite that initial bad luck, she is now a little old woman, shouting a lot and to boss my parents around!
I finally made it to the hairdresser after about a year! No massive change, just a lot shorter. Of course, it might have been nice if I’d brushed it before taking this pic…
A group of unlikely friends forms in France, united by a love of books and wine. Gradually they get to know each other and learn their secrets…
The Bordeaux Book Club is a book about the complexities of friendships and relationships.
Grace starts a book club in the aftermath of splitting up. Leah is having problems at home with her husband potentially having an affair and her daughter being constantly embarrassed by her. Monica is a young mum whose husband is a pilot so is often away. George is a gregarious but lonely builder and Alfie is a shy young man living with his mum.
I felt sorry for the band of unlikely friends. Leah and Grace have made sacrifices for their husbands but this has been unappreciated. Now Grace is alone and throwing herself into social events while Leah finds herself worried about her husband’s strange absences. Monica is struggling to cope with her baby and feels like a terrible mum.
I enjoyed the inclusion of the discussions on the books including Great Expectations and Wuthering Heights. The characters discuss the books and relate their own experiences to what they have read. We gradually find out more about the main characters as they explore the books and get to know each other better.
There are some wonderful descriptions in the book and the setting in France feels realistic. The main characters are easy to like and I liked how their friendships develop over the course of the book. They felt very authentic and I could easily imagine their emotions and thought processes. In particular, I identified with Monica and Leah as they consider their roles as mother, and I liked the contrast between the baby and teen years.
The Bordeaux Book Club is a gently emotional book about friendship.
The Bordeaux Book Club
Love books? The Bordeaux Book Club is seeking new members!
When Leah and her husband moved to France, it was with the dream of becoming self-sufficient. But in truth, it’s not the ‘good life’ she’d imagined, as three hours of digging barely yields a single straggly carrot. Worse, her teenage daughter is acting up, and her husband seems to find every strange excuse under the hot French sun to disappear.
So when her friend entreats her to join the new bookclub she’s forming, Leah decides it’s something she will do for herself. The chance to make new friends, to drink a few glasses of wine, and to escape into stories that take her miles away from the life she’d thought would be her own happy-ever-after.
But the book club is a strange group of misfits. There’s prickly Grace, who lives alone and seems to know everybody and like no-one. Buttoned-up Monica, who says her husband is away and appears to be parenting her baby all alone. Handsome builder George, who has barely read a book before. And Alfie – who is a full two decades younger than everyone else, and is hiding a devastating secret…
As the stories they read begin to bring the new friends closer together, Leah is about to discover that happy-ever-afters don’t always look how you expect them to…
A gorgeously escapist read from the bestselling author of A Year at the French Farmhouse, perfect for fans of Veronica Henry, Jo Thomas and Fiona Valpy.
Holly was devastated after the death of her husband. They couldn’t have children so she is now trying to find a new purpose to focus upon. She starts to volunteer at a cafe for homeless people and tries to heal herself by helping others…
The Saturday Place is an emotional yet feel-good book about finding hope during the darkest times.
Holly is almost overwhelmed by grief for her late husband. She finds a new purpose by helping out at a cafe where the other volunteers as well as the clients have their own issues to contend with. In particular Angus and Lauren make Holly think about the aspects of her life that she should be thankful for, and inspire her to want to make a positive difference.
There are some big emotional issues covered in this book. Holly is dealing with her grief as well as her childlessness. Angus is despairing at the collapse of his marriage. Lauren is living in a shelter and has obviouslty experienced trauma. Many peripheral characters have mental health needs, are homeless, or face adversity.
Despite the heaviness of the emotional turmoil experienced by the main characters, there is an underlying hope that shines through the pages. The capacity of the human spirit to want to help others is highlighted whilst they try to move on from their own pain. The characters were authentically written and I felt invested in their converging plotlines.
The Saturday Place is a heartbreaking and heartwarming novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
‘A tender story of hope, friendship and the power of community.’ – Emily Houghton author of Before I Saw You
‘A warm, wise and really special book… I absolutely loved it.’ – Katy Regan author of Little Big Love
Three perfect strangers who help each other to believe in love again
Holly’s husband died, and she’s lonely. She needs to do something to save herself, quickly. Next thing she knows she’s interviewing for a voluntary cooking job, surprised to be ambushed by a scruffy man who looks like he has a past.
Angus has messed up. He’s lost the respect of his family and has none for himself. If it weren’t for his brother and friend who run the café, he’d be sleeping on the streets. Angus is about ready to give up – until he meets Holly, who sparks something in him.
Then Lauren arrives from the homeless shelter. She came to London with nothing but an old train ticket, a teddy bear, and the clothes on her back. With no family, no home, no friends, she doesn’t know what love is. People scare her. She’s terrified of Angus and Holly. At first.
Each of them finds themselves in the Saturday café at a time when they need something to grab hold of. It might have to be each other…