1890s: Percy Gladwell, an architect, designs a beautiful house and falls in love with the woman who commissioned it. Will his love remain unrequited…?
Present day: Molly is unhappy in her job and is then dumped by her boyfriend so loses her home. She turns to her mum and stepdad for financial and emotional support but they are due to go abroad so encourage her to visit her grieving step-grandad. But she goes in a cupboard and emerges somewhere totally different…
The Secrets of Hawthorn Place is a dual timeline novel set in the 1890s and present day. It is the first book I have read by this author but won’t be the last as I loved it!
Molly is pampered, self-absorbed and plays the victim rather than taking responsibility for her life. She expects to be looked after and is shocked when her parents force her to stand on her own two feet. Molly has multiple dimensions and is a character who was interesting to follow over the course of the book.
I really enjoyed the dual timeline concept and admit that I hadn’t read the blurb so was transported just as magically as Molly when she finds herself in Norfolk. The mystery and connections between the past and present and the two houses had me captivated throughout.
The Secrets of Hawthorn Place was hugely entertaining. The combination of plot and characters worked together so well alongside an engaging writing style to bring the book to life.
The Secrets of Hawthorn Place
Love will always find a way… Discover the intriguing secrets of Hawthorn Place in this heartfelt dual-time novel, filled with warmth and charm, perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley and Cecelia Ahern.
Two houses, hundreds of miles apart…yet connected always.
When life throws Molly Butterfield a curveball, she decides to spend some time with her recently widowed granddad, Wally, at Hawthorn Place, his quirky Victorian house on the Dorset coast.
But cosseted Molly struggles to look after herself, never mind her grieving granddad, until the accidental discovery of an identical Art and Crafts house on the Norfolk coast offers her an unexpected purpose, as well as revealing a bewildering mystery.
Discovering that both Hawthorn Place and Acacia House were designed by architect Percy Gladwell, Molly uncovers the secret of a love which linked them, so powerful it defied reason.
What follows is a summer which will change Molly for ever…
Author Bio –
Jenni Keer is a history graduate who embarked on a career in contract flooring before settling in the middle of the Suffolk countryside with her antique furniture restorer husband. She has valiantly attempted to master the ancient art of housework but with four teenage boys in the house it remains a mystery. Instead, she spends her time at the keyboard writing commercial women’s fiction to combat the testosterone-fuelled atmosphere, with her number one fan #Blindcat by her side. Much younger in her head than she is on paper, she adores any excuse for fancy-dress and is part of a disco formation dance team.
Jenni is also the author of The Hopes and Dreams of Lucy Baker and The Unexpected Life of Maisie Meadows.
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Libertas is a young German woman from a wealthy family. She is employed by a film studio and hopes for a great career. But the Nazis have come to power and she is expected to conform to their ideals of womanhood…
The Girl on the Platform is an historical novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in Germany. It is based on a true story which adds a poignancy to the events described.
Libs has a fleeting conversation with a well respected but fleeing Jewish film director. She is inspired to stay true to her own beliefs rather than the Nazi rhetoric. However, a close friend is murdered by the Gestapo and danger feels close at all times. Libs becomes dissatisfied with personal protest and wants to make a difference. I liked her bravery and could understand her frustrations at the start of the book which lead her to make dangerous choices.
Libs finds a kindred spirit in Harro who has also had experience of Nazi brutality. Together they decide to make a difference in a world that is increasingly alien to them as the Nazi power machine gets into its stride. Their brave actions bring them close to danger and the fear is palpable as the anticipation mounts towards the ending.
The pace at the start of the book is quite slow as we are introduced to Libs and then Harro. The Nazi brutality is hidden in the early chapters but the darkness is hinted at before being more overt later in the book. The Nazis grow in power and confidence which leads Libs and Harro to grow in their desperation to resist and become prominent on secret missions.
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Book: The Girl on the Platform
Author: Ellie Midwood
Pub Day: Oct 13th 2021
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About the Book:
Berlin, 1939: The inspiring true story of Libby Schulze-Boysen, a German girl who refused to back down to the Nazis. In the face of evil, she vowed to live by the truth––or die by it.
“Be brave. Don’t run. Fight.” With her eyes tightly shut, tears rolling from under her dark lashes, she felt his lips gently touch her burning cheek. The train on the platform whistled, and he disappeared into the steam.
Libby moves to Berlin to start a new life––as far away as possible from her family and their alliance with the Nazis. But in the city, there’s no escape from Hitler’s brutal regime. And when Libby’s friend vanishes into thin air, she decides she cannot stand back and do nothing…
After Libby makes connections with fellow anti-Nazis, she’s introduced to Harro. Instantly, she knows there’s a story behind his cornflower-blue eyes. The whip marks on his back, scars from the SS, tell his secret: he is a resistance fighter.
Harro draws Libby into the world of the resistance, and as they fall in love, their life grows increasingly dangerous. Becoming a double agent, Libby infiltrates the Ministry of Propaganda. By day, they smuggle classified documents. By night, they hold clandestine meetings by candlelight and plot Hitler’s downfall.
But in the frostbitten winter of 1942, Libby fears that the Gestapo is stalking them––their every move watched, their phone calls recorded. And one day, Harro simply disappears. Will they ever be reunited? Or will everything they’ve risked their lives for be in vain?
Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Lilac Girls will be utterly gripped by this heartbreaking page-turner. Based on a true story, this beautiful novel shows that even when our freedom is stolen, we still have a choice…
Author Bio
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, “The Girl from Berlin.” Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.
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1903 All Hallows asylum takes in a woman and child with severe mental trauma. Elderly nurse Emma Everdeen takes charge of their care. 1993 Lewis Tyler is forcibly taken to All Hallows boarding school whilst still grieving the loss of his mother. He makes friends with outcast Isak but the boys are haunted by the sinister feel of the old building…
The Room in the Attic is a book of mystery, suspense and a good helping of spookiness! However, it also unleashed an emotional tug especially at the heartbreaking way Lewis is treated as he tries to grieve for his mother.
The book is written across timelines separated by a century. I found myself immersed in both timelines equally. This feels like a classical gothic ghost story and I became reluctant to read after dark! There’s a rocking chair rocking on its own, the discovery of a skeleton and a general atmospheric tone to the plot that is unsettling.
My heart was breaking for Lewis as his cruel family reject his creative outlook on life after the death of his mum. His subsequent removal to boarding school is undeniably upsetting and as a mum I just wanted to scoop him up and give him a hug. Meanwhile Nurse Emma finds her own grief at the death of her young son is revisited as she tends to little Harriet in the room in the attic.
The Room in the Attic is a hauntingly good novel, creepy but with an emotional level that gave the book a depth that significantly increased my enjoyment.
The Room in the Attic book blurb
A child who does not know her name…
In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, Harriet, awakens. She is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.
Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…
In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.
Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…
All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.
Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above. Or are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first…
Praise for Louise Douglas
‘A brilliantly written, gripping, clever, compelling story, that I struggled to put down. The vivid descriptions, the evocative plot and the intrigue that Louise created, which had me constantly asking questions, made it a highly enjoyable, absolute treasure of a read.’ Kim Nash on The Scarlet Dress
‘A tender, heart-breaking, page-turning read’ Rachel Hore on The House by the Sea
‘The perfect combination of page-turning thriller and deeply emotional family story. Superb.’ Nicola Cornick on The House by the Sea
‘Kept me guessing until the last few pages and the explosive ending took my breath away.’ C.L. Taylor, author of The Accident on Your Beautiful Lies
‘Beautifully written, chillingly atmospheric and utterly compelling, The Secret by the Lake is Louise Douglas at her brilliant best’ Tammy Cohen, author of The Broken
‘A master of her craft, Louise Douglas ratchets up the tension in this haunting and exquisitely written tale of buried secrets and past tragedy.’ Amanda Jennings, author of Sworn Secret
‘A clammy, atmospheric and suspenseful novel, it builds in tension all the way through to the startling final pages.’ Sunday Express, S Magazine
Author Bio –
Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author of 6 novels including The Love of my Life and Missing You – a RNA award winner. The Secrets Between Us was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country. Louise’s first book for Boldwood, The House by the Sea was published in March 2020.
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TRIGGER WARNING: this book contains multiple rapes and murders
Former FBI agent Tori Hunter is adjusting to life back in her hometown when a double homicide leads her to question her career, home and family history. But the murders have only just begun…
The Hidden Girl is a gripping and intense crime thriller. It is the third book in the series but the first that I have read. There are some details about Tori’s past which relate to a previous case presumably in one of the previous books. However, there was no specific detail that would act as a spoiler. I intend to catch up on the first two books as soon as possible!
The plot and action spring straight into action and is relentless! But in a good way 🙂 The book is written in the third person and includes some perspectives of the perpetrators which ramps up the tension. There are also sections from 24 years ago to give context to events in the present. The detail of the rapes and murders is unpleasant but I didn’t find the detail overly graphic.
I loved the character of Tori and her relationship with Braddock. She has been through significant change over the last year and this book brings the past into sharp focus. She has experience of being a victim and this allows her to connect with those she is interviewing and adds an emotional level to the plot.
The Hidden Girl had me hooked from the first page to the last and the romance ends in a cliffhanger so I will be checking out the next book when it is published!
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Book: The Hidden Girl
Author: Roger Stelljes
Pub Day: Oct 7th 2021
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About the Book:
The lights of her parents’ cabin just visible through the woods, the girl carefully curls up amongst the reeds, her knees pulled tight to her chest. Terrified, the only sound she makes is the pounding of her heart, but she hears the stranger searching… if she keeps silent, will she be safe?
When Agent Tori Hunter is urgently called to the murder scene of Dan and Heidi Newman, she finds their throats slit, and Dan tied up: forced to watch his wife lose her life. Tori’s first thought is for their seventeen-year-old daughter Cara who is nowhere to be found. Will this popular young girl be the next victim?
A broken bracelet is the one clue left at the scene, but the team are running in circles until Tori finally tracks down Cara hiding in the woods. Sobbing, the devastated girl says all she remembers is a flash of a man’s face as she was chased through the forest…
Desperate to find the monster behind this crime, Tori pieces together the broken chain: and it leads her to an elderly lady living alone nearby. When the woman won’t speak to police, Tori senses that although it means breaking all the rules, introducing Cara will show this lonely soul what’s at stake. And once inside her house, Cara gasps when she sees a framed photo on display. It’s the man who chased her…
But then another local couple is murdered in their isolated home, another husband forced to watch his worst nightmare unfold. As more couples lose their lives, can Tori keep Cara, her one witness, safe from this vicious killer? And can she track him down before more innocent families are torn apart?
An absolutely addictive and mind-blowing crime thriller that will have you glued to the pages through each and every twist, until the final shocking conclusion. Fans of Kendra Elliot, Robert Dugoni and Lisa Jackson won’t be able to put this down.
Author Bio
Roger Stelljes is the acclaimed New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of pulse-pounding murder mystery and suspense novels, including the Tori Hunter and McRyan Mystery Series. Roger’s crime thrillers are noted for their fast-paced, yet intricate plots filled with layered and complex characters.
Roger started his first novel in July 2002 while on vacation in Minnesota’s Brainerd Lakes area and has been writing ever since. His debut book, The St. Paul Conspiracy, was nominated in genre fiction for the Minnesota Book Awards along with finalists Brian Freeman and William Kent Krueger. With his follow-up, Deadly Stillwater, where Vince Flynn hailed Roger as a “powerful new thriller voice”, he won the Midwest Independent Book Publishers award for commercial fiction.
Born and raised in Minnesota, Roger still lives there with his family. In addition to his work as an author, Roger is a partner in his law firm. Roger is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys spending time outdoors boating, attending hockey games, and honing his golf game.
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TRIGGER WARNING: this book centres on the aftermath of suicide
Dr Ruth Bennett is amazingly proud of her only child Thomas who has just qualified as a doctor. She is concenred and confused when she receives a voicemail from him to ask her to attend court. But Thomas never shows up and is found dead, an apparent suicide. Ruth is convinced of her son’s innocence and starts to re-trace his final days to search for the truth…
The Silent Mother is an emotional novel about a mother’s steadfast belief in her son’s innocence. It has both psychological and mystery elements as Ruth begins to plough through the evidence which may have resulted in her son’s suicide.
Ruth is a devoted mother. She has heartache in the past due to the death of Thomas’ dad before he was even born and now her son’s early death. The criminal case baffles her and she is convinced of his innocence. Thomas left behind a diary with tantalising hints about his life which may have had an impact on his death.
As well as Ruth’s perspective, we also see chapters written about Rosie, one of Ruth’s patients. Her friend has disappeared and Rosie’s mental health is suffering, linked to an event in her past as well as her anxiety in the present. Both Rosie and Ruth are portrayed sympathetically and their emotional responses to events are understandable and relatable.
I found the book a little slow paced as Ruth investigates. She shows more self restraint than I would! There are several characters who all had an involvement in Thomas’ life and now she needs to link the clues together to find the truth. The convergence of the two plotlines takes a while to happen, leaving plenty of time for the reader to attempt to guess the twists.
The Silent Mother is a slow burning but intensely emotional psychological novel. I have previously reviewed The Next Wife by Liz Lawler.
The Silent Mother book description:
The phone rings. It’s the call every parent dreads. My beautiful son is dead.
He’d been the centre of my world from the moment he was born. Now my perfect life is shattered. In the midst of my grief, I receive an anonymous letter telling me that Tom’s death was not an accident.
So I’ve come to the apartment where my only child lived to find out what really happened. Tom was newly qualified as a doctor, he had a bright future ahead of him. Nothing about the day he died makes sense.
As I get to know the medical staff Tom worked with and his friends living nearby, I’m drawn into a tangled web of lies. Whispers and rumours circulate along the hospital corridors and I start to question how well I really knew my precious boy.
But a mother knows when things don’t add up.
His girlfriend has been keeping her pregnancy secret.
His best friend betrayed him in the weeks before Tom’s death.
His neighbours all have something to hide.
Which one of them would kill? As I get closer to the truth, the stakes become more dangerous. And I realise I could be next on their list…
Author Bio:
Liz Lawler grew up sharing pants, socks, occasionally a toothbrush, sleeping four to a bed. Born in Chatham and partly raised in Dublin, she is one of fourteen children. She spent over twenty years as a nurse and has since fitted in working as a flight attendant, a general manager of a five star hotel, and is now working with trains. She became an author in 2017 when her debut novel Don’t Wake Up was published by Twenty7.
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