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Detective Harlow Durant is reeling from her last case when she is called upon to investigate a burnt body. Meanwhile there are missing women reported: could one of them be this victim? Harlow is also worried about the media reporting on another case and her own family history…

The Girls in the Fire is the second book to feature Harlow Durant and I have not read the first. There are mentions of events in the last book so I feel that I would have preferred to read the books in sequence.

The burnt body and murder investigation takes a while to get underway as they attempt to disocver the identity of the victim. The rest of the department are dealing with a serial killer nearby but it appears the cases are unconnected. Harlow clashes horns with other officers but I loved the relationship between Harlow and her partner Lucas. They have a gently teasing banter which softens the harsh reality of the case they are investigating.

The majority of the book is written from Harlow’s perspective in the present day case. However, there are also chapters from 20 years ago to show events from her childhood. There are also some chapers from a mysterious ‘Him’ which raises the anticipation and tension as we wait for him to be identified.

The chapters set in the past provide background to Harlow’s character. Her own father was a serial killer but she was desperate for him to stay with her mother who neglected and abused her when he wasn’t around. Both of these angles are emotive and have had a profound effect on her personality.

The Girls in the Fire is an interesting detective thriller book with a great lead detective.

Harlow looked down at a photo of her victim and couldn’t reconcile it with the body found by the lake. Here was a young and carefree woman, gazing at the camera with her striking emerald green eyes, her long black hair waving in the breeze. But within an instant her future had been extinguished. Harlow had to find out why.

When the remains of a young woman are discovered on the edge of Saranac Lake in upstate New York, local law enforcement immediately call Detective Harlow Durant. When she arrives at the scene, she instantly knows this case will get under her skin. Lying just beyond the picturesque lake popular with families are the remains of a victim who has seemingly been burned to death. With very little evidence remaining, Harlow begins scouring missing persons reports.

The victim is identified as twenty-six-year-old Ellie Gordon—a fun-loving young woman who worked in the bookstore and enjoyed going out with friends. When her mother comes to ID the body, she reports her daughter’s gold crucifix missing and the hunt begins to locate it and any potential DNA evidence. But as Harlow starts to piece Ellie’s last movements together, another body is found. The victim was killed in exactly the same way and worked with Ellie.
Witness statements identify a local man who was obsessed with both women and when Harlow sees video evidence of him pawning the gold necklace, she thinks she has her man. But when he too winds up dead, Harlow has to start over. The only other link to the women is Gavin Croswell, one of the most powerful men in the town. But with a whole host of alibis, pinning the murders on him is almost impossible.

With time running out to find the killer before another woman loses her life, the case soon becomes personal when Harlow’s car is violently run off the road. Someone wants to warn her off the case and they will use anything they can to threaten her. Even if it means exposing her own dark secret.

Can Harlow confront her demons to save another innocent life from being lost? And just how much is she prepared to sacrifice?

An absolutely addictive serial killer thriller perfect for fans of Melinda Leigh, and Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series.

Author Bio:

Author Dea (D.H) Poirier is the author of NEXT GIRL TO DIE, which hit #1 in the Amazon charts. She was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, where she got her start writing in creative writing courses. She attended The University of Central Oklahoma for Computer Science and Political Science. Later, she spent time living on both coasts, and traveling the United States, before finally putting down roots in Central Florida. She now resides somewhere between Disney and the swamp. She spends her days at her day job as a President of Digital Marketing, and her nights writing manuscripts.

https://www.dhpoirier.com/

https://www.facebook.com/dhpoirier/

https://www.instagram.com/deapoirier/

https://twitter.com/deapoirierbooks

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09KCDJLT4social

Lady Eleanor Swift visits Henley Regatta with her friend Tipsy who is determined to find Ellie and herself a husband. Ellie is still enchanted by detective Hugh Seldon but their rocky relationship is under pressure, especially when the head of royal police calls on Ellie not Hugh to investigate the murder of a minor royal…

A Royal Murder is the 9th book to feature intrepid Lady Eleanor Swift and her indefatigable butler Clifford.

We are straight into the actions and main character plotlines. Eleanor and Tipsy are at the regatta and Tipsy is trying to find them both a husband, the richer the better. A royal steps up to give a speech, swigs his champagne and collapses. Ellie is asked by the royal police to investigate the murder and find a whole host of motives and suspects. This puts her at odds with her beau Hugh who is not welcomed into the investigation by the royal police.

There are plenty of red herrings as Ellie explore the potential culprits. She is ably assisted by her butler Clifford who is as resourceful as ever. Their unconventional friendship is the real highlight of this whole series for me. I particularly enjoy their dialogue together throughout all the books.

I liked the addition of Ellie’s friend which reinforces the gender stereotypes of the era, and the royal status of the victim which shows the class system. Eleanor provides a delightful contrast to the social norms described in the book. She subverts and defies the expectations of society based on her status and sex.

A Royal Murder is an entertaining historical cosy murder mystery.

I have previously reviewed the other books in the series:  A Very English Murder, Death at the Dance, A Witness to Murder, Murder in the Snow, Mystery by the Sea, Murder at the Fair, A Lesson In Murder and Death on a Winter’s Day

Author Bio:

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

https://twitter.com/BrightVerity

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09M3RYT22social

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/cyqVbRNRiSpk
US: zpr.io/pBxeLFqVYaB6

Listen to a sample here:

https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/a-royal-murder-by-verity-bright-narrated-by-karen-cass

Freya’s life is in tatters. She has lost her job and her husband so has retreated to Heaven’s Cove to stay with her interfering sister. Belinda has set Freya up with a job interview and Freya is nervous but more than qualified. Working with Kathleen goes well except for the cold behaviour from her son Ryan combined with keeping secrets from him…

The Girl at the Last House Before the Sea is a gently romantic novel about friendship and second chances. It is the third book in the Heaven’s Cove series and I have previously reviewed the previous two books : Secrets at the Last House Before the Sea and A Letter to the Last House Before the Sea by Liz Eeles.

I felt that this book was more emotional than the previous two as the main characters are all beset by grief. Freya is mourning the end of her marriage, Ryan is mourning the death of his wife, and Kathleen has a secret heartache that she has kept hidden for decades. This also serves to give each of them a vulnerability which makes them easy to like.

The plot is delivered through multiple perspectives in the third person. This allows the various characters to explore their situations, emotions and reactions to events. The setting is richly described and provides a backdrop to the developing personal situations. We meet characters from the previous books and it is nice to catch up with their lives.

The Girl at the Last House Before the Sea is an emotional yet uplifting novel.

The Girl at the Last House Before the Sea: An absolutely addictive and heartbreaking page-turner (Heaven’s Cove Book 3)

The girl stands on the clifftop, feeling the soft breeze lift her shining red hair and dry her tears. She can almost hear Ireland calling her home across the wild sea. But she can never go back. And in that moment, she swears no-one will ever find out why.

Freya is desperate for escape from her messy break-up when she’s offered a job caring for elderly Kathleen in the seaside village of Heaven’s Cove. Kathleen’s once-red hair is now a brilliant white, but there’s always laughter in her Irish lilt – until the day Freya finds her weeping, her gaze fixed on Driftwood House, perched on the cliffs above the village. She refuses to say what’s wrong…

Kathleen’s son Ryan, quiet with striking emerald eyes, resents that a stranger is caring for his mother. But as Freya presses him for answers on a long walk across a windswept beach, Ryan finally admits that Kathleen breaks down in the same way, on the exact same day every year – never telling anyone what is causing her pain.

Finding a photo of Kathleen as a young girl standing outside Driftwood House years before she says she moved to the village, Freya is determined to find the source of Kathleen’s heartache. But as she gets closer to Ryan, and to the sad, forgotten history of the house, Freya is faced with an impossible decision…

Should she share this heartbreaking secret with Ryan and risk their chance of happiness together? And will facing the truth bring Kathleen peace in her final years – or will it tear them all apart?

An absolutely breath-taking and heartbreaking page-turner about healing old sorrows and finding new joys. Perfect for fans of Debbie Macomber, Barbara O’Neal, and anyone longing to escape to the rugged Devon coast.

Buy link: https://geni.us/B09HKT5HM2social

Author bio

Liz writes heart-warming and uplifting women’s fiction about families and relationships, and romantic comedies full of love and laughs.

She worked as a journalist for years and brought up a family on the south coast of England, all the while writing fiction on the quiet. After being short-listed in a couple of national novel-writing competitions, her dream of being a published author came true when she was signed by Bookouture.

When not writing, Liz likes walking by the sea, catching up with friends and binge-watching box sets. She also loves hearing from readers and can be contacted at www.lizeeles.com, or on social media.

Author social media

Website: www.lizeeles.com

Twitter:@lizeelesauthor

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lizeelesauthor

Instagram: @lizeelesauthor

Jane’s best friend Sophie brings a new friend along to their Friday night out. Lexie is glamorous but controlling. She undermines Janes and pushes her out of the friendship group. Or Is Jane just super sensitive, upset when Lexie and Sophie both reveal they are pregnant whilst Jane is struggling to cope with her diagnosis of early menopause? Meanwhile Jane’s husband is acting oddly…

The Baby Shower is a psychological thriller set in the UK. I have previously reviewed Her Sister’s Secret, The Housewarming, The Women, The Lies We Hide, and Can You See Her? by S.E. Lynes.

This is an uncomfortable book to read. The jarring atmosphere is created incredibly well. Lexie’s campaign against Jane is unpleasant as it develops insidiously and she is abandoned and rejected by Sophie. I wanted to scream and shout at the group of friends to stand up on Jane’s behalf.

The sadness and pathos of Jane’s life, her alcoholic mother, her grief at the lack of children, all feel so authentic. The motion is raw and exposed across the pages. Her one shining light is her wonderful husband Frankie who is utterly devoted to her. Their love really radiates whch makes the subsequent events even more heinous.

There are twists as the book progresses and it was easy to guess the main connection but I enjoyed seeing how the author would merge the plotlines. The majority of the book is set in the recent past with a few chapters showing a dangerous present day scenario.

The Baby Shower was an uncomfortably entertaining book with high emotion and a compelling plot.

S.E. Lynes Media Kit:

Title:                   The Baby Shower

Author:     S.E. Lynes    

Publication Day:  March 1st 2022

BUY LINKS:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09MSDS19Bsocial

Apple: http://ow.ly/74jK50H0GbF

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Google: http://ow.ly/L1bQ50H0GfR

 Audible:

UK: zpr.io/dhnsXSffCudt
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SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-baby-shower-by-se-lynes-narrated-by-tamsin-kennard

Description:    

She doesn’t know I’m there, watching her in the mirror. She slides her hand under her blouse. And then I see something impossible. She isn’t pregnant…

She bursts into my life like a storm, and nothing is the same again. She seems so perfect, with her lilting laugh and her beautiful face. One by one, I watch as my friends fall under her spell.

Only I seem to suspect something. Only I see that her smiles don’t reach her cold, furious eyes. And when I’m accused of things I didn’t do, when my home is vandalized, I know she’s behind it. But she only lets her mask slip when no one is looking, so if I say anything, I’ll look crazy.

So when the baby shower comes around I’m there, sitting on a velvet sofa in a posh hotel room, surrounded by balloons. We share gifts, we pour small glasses of champagne, and she beams, her bump just visible under her bright red shirt.

But that afternoon, I finally learn the unbelievable truth.

There is no baby…

A stunningly twisty story of toxic female friendships, guilt and lies from S.E. Lynes, author of the no.1 bestseller The Housewarming. If you like Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, you’ll be glued to The Baby Shower.

Author Bio:

Former BBC Producer, S.E. Lynes is the Amazon best selling author of ‘intelligent and haunting’, ‘beautifully written’ psychological thrillers, VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE PACT, THE PROPOSAL, THE WOMEN, THE LIES WE HIDE, CAN YOU SEE HER? and her latest novel, THE HOUSEWARMING, available for pre-order NOW.

After completing her MA, Lynes taught creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College for over ten years. She now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing.

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook: S E Lynes Author
Twitter: @SELynesAuthor
Instagram: @S E Lynes Author