Isabel Gallagher is found murdered in her daughter’s bedroom, an old fashioned razor in her hand. Another woman, Joyce, goes missing and her child is abducted. Again a razor is located amongst her possessions. DI Lottie Parker frantically organises her team as she is convinced the cases are linked…
Little Bones is the 10th book in Patricia Gibney’s Lottie Parker series. It works as a stand alone novel but there is character development of the main police team that I think would be more enjoyable to see that progress across the series.
Lottie has two seemingly separate cases to investigate: a brutal murder and a missing woman and child. Both crime scenes contain razors so she quickly sees a connection. Then there is the prologue which has to fit in somewhere and stimulates the readers’ imaginations trying to figure things out!
The personal relationships between members of the police team causes trouble and tension which Lottie needs to negotiate to keep them focussed on the case. Even her own romance with Boyd is relagated to the background.
The chapters are quite short to make the pace rather rapid. Events hurry along as we see the police working hard but also scenes which don’t immediately tie in to the plot as well as emotional snapshots of characters in danger.
Little Bones is an entertaining and enjoyable crime novel with a strong police team. I have previously reviewed books 6, 7, 8 and 9 in the series: Final Betrayal, Broken Souls, Buried Angels, and Silent Voices.
Little Bones book description:
She lifted up her granddaughter from the cot, clutched her to her chest and, without looking at her beautiful daughter lying dead on the floor of her bedroom, ran from the house. Only when she was outside did she let a wail escape her lips, frightening the baby who joined in her screams.
When Isabel Gallagher is found murdered on the floor of her baby’s nursery by her mother, it’s a gruelling case for Detective Lottie Parker. Isabel’s pyjamas have been ripped, her throat cut and an old-fashioned razor blade placed in her hand. As Lottie looks at the round blue eyes and perfect chubby cheeks of Isabel’s baby daughter, she can’t understand who would want to hurt this innocent family.
That very same day she receives a call with devastating news. Another young mother, Joyce Breslin, has gone missing, and her four-year-old son Evan has been abducted from daycare. Lottie is sure that the missing mother and son are linked to Isabel’s death, and when she finds a bloody razor blade in their house, her worst fears are confirmed.
Desperate to find little Evan, Lottie leaves no stone unturned as she delves into Isabel and Joyce’s pasts and when she realises the two women have been meeting in secret, she knows she must find out why.
But when Joyce’s body is found in a murky pond and some little bones are found on a windy hillside, it feels as if this merciless killer will stop at nothing. The bones aren’t Evan’s but can they give Lottie the final clue to find the innocent child before more lives are taken?
This absolutely gripping and unputdownable crime thriller from bestselling author Patricia Gibney will leave you gasping for breath. A perfect read for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine.
Author Bio:
Patricia is the million-copy bestselling author of the DI Lottie Parker series. She yearned to be a writer after reading Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene and even wanted to be Nancy Drew when she grew up. She has now grown up (she thinks) but the closest she’s come to Nancy Drew is writing crime!
In 2009, after her husband died, she retired from her job and started writing seriously. Fascinated by people and their quirky characteristics, she always carries a notebook to scribble down observations.
Patricia also loves to paint in watercolour and lives in the Irish midlands with her children.
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Sophie is in an unhealthy relationship and struggling to cope following the death of her father. Her uncle sweeps in to offer her a job and home but Sophie is haunted by a past she doesn’t remember. Can she finally reveal the secrets fo the past and find out the truth about her mother’s disappearance…?
The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a mixture of emotional self discovery and magic.
Sophie is a vulnerable woman and has a huge sense of loss. Her relationship with Victor has chipped away at her self esteem and her identity whilst the death of her dad has hit her hard emotionally. She dreams about a tree and hears her mother’s voice, to the extent that she questions her mental health.
Her uncle Edward steps in to invite Sophie to a career and lifestyle change. Gradually she adjusts to the changes especially being reunited with her mother’s side of the family as well as her first love Will. There is something magical about the library and her dreams become more vivid: could they be memories instead?
I enjoyed the gentle relationship between Will and Sophie. He is shocked at first at how much she has changed but he still sees sparks of the girl he loved. Sophie needs to find her own self again before she can think about love, and key to this is resolving issue with her mother and the past.
The Bookbinder’s Daughter is an enjoyable mystical and emotional book. I have previously reviewed The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall by Jessica Thorne.
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Book: The Bookbinder’s Daughter
Author: Jessica Thorne
Pub Day: Sept 20th 2021
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The song surrounded her now, the murmuring of the library insistent, and her foot took the first step on the winding stairs. She knew it wasn’t entirely a dream. It was the library calling her, its magic driving her.
When Sophie is offered a job at the Ayredale Library – the finest collection of rare books in the world, and the last place her bookbinder mother was seen when Sophie was just a teenager – she leaps at the chance. Will she finally discover what happened to the woman she’s always believed abandoned her?
Taking in the endless shelves of antique books, the soaring stained-glass windows, and the grand sweeping staircase, usually shy Sophie feels strangely at home, and is welcomed by her eccentric fellow binders. But why is the Keeper of the Library so reluctant to speak about Sophie’s mother? And why is Sophie the only person who can read the strange spells in the oldest books on display, written in a forgotten language nobody else understands?
The mysteries of the library only deepen when Sophie stumbles upon an elaborately carved door. The pattern exactly matches the pendant her mother left behind years ago, engraved with a delicate leaf. As the door swings open at her touch, Sophie gasps at the incredible sight: an enormous tree, impossibly growing higher than the library itself, its gently falling golden leaves somehow resembling the pages of a book. Amidst their rustling, Sophie hears a familiar whisper…
‘There you are, my Sophie. I knew you’d come back for me.’
An absolutely spellbinding read about long-hidden family secrets and the magic that lurks between the pages of every ancient book. Perfect for fans of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Night Circus and The Binding.
Author Bio
Jessica Thorne saw Star Wars at an impressionable age and life was never the same. She’s loved fantasy, romance and science fiction ever since and spends her time looking for adventure – in the pages of her books.
Sometimes she is Ruth Frances Long and won the European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award for Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2015.
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1940, war rages in Europe. Daniel Summerskill’s childhood ends abruptly when his home is bombed and he learns a secret about his identity. Meanwhile, in Nazi occupied Warsaw, the Jews are forced into a ghetto amid danger and fear…
The Seamstress of Warsaw is an historical novel set in 1940 in both London and Warsaw.
Daniel undergoes the most dramatic character arc as he goes from an idealistic boy to an undercover fighter. I am not sure that I found his storyline altogether credible but it made for a fascinating read.
Meanwhile, Helena’s diary entries of events in Warsaw felt only too real. Death lurks in the ghetto and she is fiercely determined to save her young daughter Ilsa. These descriptions were often hard to read but the survival instinct shone brightly amidst the terror.
There is a lot of emotion is this book as characters deal with danger and brutality as well as conflict over identity. Our own knowledge of the Holocaust gives insight into upcoming events and feel the dread of anticipation as the plot unfolds. I think the author has well researched the period in order to bring it to life vividly.
The Seamstress of Warsaw is an engaging and heart wrenching book about the endurance of the human spirit, love and identity.
The Seamstress of Warsaw book blurb
1940
London
A man learns a shocking truth about his past.
Warsaw
A mother writes a diary as the ghetto walls go up.
From the bombed streets of London, to occupied Warsaw, to the Polish forests bristling with partisans, will their paths cross?
Will their pasts be reconciled?
And will they survive the deadly assaults on their freedom and their lives?
THE SEAMSTRESS OF WARSAW is a tale of endurance and loss, family and blood, stories and histories, that questions the nature of who we are and where we are going, when the road ahead is burning.
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Author bio
Rebecca Mascull is an author of historical novels. She also writes saga fiction under the pen-name of Mollie Walton.
Rebecca’s latest book under the Mascull name is coming on September 18th 2021, THE SEAMSTRESS OF WARSAW, the powerful tale of two people unknowingly connected to each other, caught up in the whirlwind of World War II, whose perilous journeys we follow from the Blitz to the Warsaw Ghetto and beyond, published by SpellBound.
Mollie Walton’s The Ironbridge Saga series is set in the dangerous world of the iron industry: THE DAUGHTERS OF IRONBRIDGE (2019). The second book in the trilogy is THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE (2020), set in the brickyards of the 1850s. Book three is set in the coalmines and servants’ quarters of the 1870s: THE ORPHAN OF IRONBRIDGE (2021). All three are published by Bonnier Zaffre. Mollie’s next trilogy will be set in WW2 North Yorkshire and the first book of this saga will be out in March 2022, published by Welbeck.
The first novel she wrote as Rebecca Mascull, THE VISITORS (2014) tells the story of Adeliza Golding, a deaf-blind child living on her father’s hop farm in Victorian Kent. Her second novel SONG OF THE SEA MAID (2015) is set in the C18th and concerns an orphan girl who becomes a scientist and makes a remarkable discovery. Her third novel, THE WILD AIR (2017) is about a shy Edwardian girl who learns to fly and becomes a celebrated aviatrix but the shadow of war is looming. All are published by Hodder & Stoughton.
She also completed the finishing chapters of her friend and fellow novelist Vanessa Lafaye’s final work, a novella called MISS MARLEY, a prequel to Dickens’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This novella is published by HarperCollins.
Rebecca has worked in education, has a Masters in Writing and lives by the sea in the east of England. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, based at the University of Lincoln.
Scarlet Drew is settling into the family world of gangland crime. But a sexual assault leads to plans for revenge that go beyond anything the family or gang have ever attempted before…
Her Rival is the sequel to Her Revenge and we catch up with the intrigues and escapades of the notorious Drew family. I think there is enough backstory included that it would not matter if you can’t wait to read this one although there are spoilers about events in the last book.
Scarlet is a determined woman, still adjusting to life without her dad and anxious to make a name for herself as well as prove herself to her aunt who now head the family. Her experience at the hands of a drunken toff leads to a huge heist plotline which I loved.
Once again, Lily Drew stole the show for me. A hard outer shell to protect her reputation and family but fear for her family makes her vulnerable. This is evident in her romantic relationship with Ray and tense relationship with her drug addict daughter Ruby.
There is violence but it is not extreme considering the genre. The plot moves relentlessly fast again and I was completely swept up in the lives of the Drew family members.
Her Rival is an excellently engaging and gripping family gangland saga. I am such a fan of this genre and have previously reviewed other Emma Tallon book including Fearless Girl and Ruthless Girl.
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Book: Her Rival
Author: Emma Tallon
Pub Day: Sept 17th 2021
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About the Book:
Fans of Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers will love this nail-biting new book from crime author Emma Tallon, set on the same mean streets as her bestselling Tyler Family series.
Scarlet Drew is new to London’s criminal underworld, but she’s hell bent on making a name for herself as joint head of the family firm alongside her aunt Lily. But when Scarlet finds herself alone with a rival business owner at a black-tie event, she is little prepared for what happens next.
Determined not to let the drunken lech get away with his crime, Scarlet hatches a plan for revenge – she’s going to steal his most valuable asset and put her name on the map. But as she gets to work, she fails to notice a silent stranger watching her every move. Someone knows exactly what she’s up to, and is plotting their own way to get their hands on the priceless goods.
Face to face with a new enemy, Scarlet fears the Drews may have finally met their match. With the whole family at risk, it’s going to take everything they have to stop their empire going up in smoke. But will everyone survive the fight?
Her Rival is a gripping and addictive crime thriller that has it all – strong women, explosive action and an ending that will have you gasping for breath!
Author Bio
Emma Tallon is a British author of gripping, gritty, organised-crime thrillers and mother of two.
Having started her writing career as a freelance ghostwriter, Emma finished her first novel, Runaway Girl, in 2016, and became an author full time. Since then she has written several other novels for her publisher and has carved out a successful career for herself from her home in Milton Keynes, where she can usually be found typing away in her office surrounded by large stacks of books and Post-it Notes full of ideas for future stories.
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Lady Eleanor Swift is invited to her former school to give a speech to the current cohort of boarders. However just as she takes centre stage, speech day is cancelled with the announcement of an accident. Her favourite teacher, now the librarian, has been murdered but who could possibly have wanted to harm the elderly woman? Ellie is determined to find out…
A Lesson In Murder is the seventh book in Verity Bright’s Lady Eleanor Swift series. It can be read as a stand alone book but I would recommend you read them all as the characters are so entertaining!
Ellie is not your typical lady of the manor. She is assisted by her stoic, practical and often exasperated but always unflappable butler Clifford alongside bulldog Gladstone. There is a romantic side to Ellie shown through her antagonistic relationship with police officer Hugh Seldon.
I enjoyed Ellie’s reminiscences about her escapades as a child which prepare her for going undercover at the school. She is given charge of one of the houses whose boarders are notorious for their behaviour but Ellie is up to the challenge. She investigates her former teacher’s murder with the permission of Hugh unlike in previous books so they have more positive interactions than usual.
The writing style is light hearted and the main characters are wonderful. Ellie continues to defy convention and the dynamic with Clifford remains strong, underpinning the plot.
A Lesson In Murder book description:
When Lady Swift is invited to her old school, she walks through familiar classrooms, finds her favourite books in the library… and surely that’s not a body? Time for a lesson in murder!
Autumn, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift is invited to her old school, St Mary’s, as a guest speaker. Her favourite teacher, Mrs Wadsworth, has asked that Eleanor talk about her intrepid travels around the globe – travelling the Silk Road by bicycle, crossing the Himalayas and even befriending the Maharaja of India. But in the circumstances, perhaps it would have been a good idea to talk about her career as a daring detective…
Because no sooner has Eleanor brushed up on her times tables then she is greeted by terrible news: Mrs Wadsworth has been murdered. Eleanor is utterly devastated but she owes it to her dearest teacher to find out who killed her and why. So, alongside Gladstone the bulldog, it’s best paw forward to track down a villain.
But when the art teacher is also found dead, Eleanor is sure someone is trying to do away with the people who taught her everything. As Eleanor delves into possible motives, she discovers a clue in the most unlikely place: her mother’s old school diary. Does the route to the murderer lie within a secret passageway her mother uncovered? Can Eleanor nail the culprit in time or is the killer coming for her next?
A totally gripping and glamorous 1920s cozy! Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Rhys Bowen are in for a treat.
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.
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