1939. Lady Eleanor Fairfax faces the outbreak of war and her fiance’s departure to join the RAF. 2019. Megan Taylor is hired by Foxfield Hall to restore the grounds. She is anxiously awaiting news of her brother who is a soldier missing in action. Both women are fascinated by the mysteries of the local area and the well on the estate. And one night they meet in the maze…
The Lost Girls Of Foxfield Hall is an intriguing tale of love, loss and magic. I’ll be honest and say that I hadn’t read the blurb so was not expecting the magical element to the plot. I enjoyed the way that author Jessica Thorne blends different genres together to make an enjoyable novel.
The strength of women is a recurring theme throughout the book. There are witches, sisterhood and also the power of female friendship. There is also a lesbian romantic element that forms part of the plot and breaks down stereotypes.
Both timelines are equally well imagined. I had no idea that Ellie and Megan’s lives would collide so enjoyed their discoveries of each other. The paradox of time and changing the past with the ensuing effect on the present/future is explored and resolved for these characters at the end of the book.
My favourite part of the book was the history and legend focus within the plot. The story of King Arthur combined with witchcraft and pagan rituals. I liked how the tale of the three sisters had been passed down through the generations and across the planes of time.
The Lost Girls Of Foxfield Hall is an intriguing book combining historical fiction with legends as well as the present day.
Jessica Thorne Media Kit:
Title: The Lost Girls at Foxfield Hall
Publication Day: March 26th 2021
Author: Jessica Thorne
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Description:
September, 1939. The moon shines silver on the looming yew trees. Thinking of her fiancé, fighting for his life and country in the war, breaks Eleanor’s heart, but also gives her courage. She takes a deep breath, picks up her camera, and follows the dancing lights into the maze.
Present day. With her little brother Missing in Action, gardener Megan Taylor runs from her grief to take a job at Foxfield Hall – a centuries-old place full of myths and folklore – restoring the wild maze in the overgrown gardens. Throwing herself into shaping the tangled ivy, Megan soon becomes drawn into the mystery of Lady Eleanor Fairfax, the Hall’s most famous resident… the villagers say she disappeared without trace at the Harvest Festival in 1939, leaving behind a grieving father and a heartbroken fiancé.
Leafing through delicate old newspaper cuttings and gazing at an ornately framed portrait of the missing woman, Megan is full of questions. Although no body was ever found, could Eleanor have been murdered? Did she run away, unwilling to marry the man who loved her? Or, with her father working at the War Office, did Eleanor stumble upon a secret she shouldn’t have?
Then, one night under a full moon, a mesmerising light inexplicably draws her to the entrance of the maze. Megan is filled with a strange certainty that, if she follows it into the shadows, it will lead to the truth about Eleanor… but could Megan herself be the next occupant of Foxfield Hall to be lost forever?
A spellbinding, magical and addictive tale about the mysterious and ancient legends at the heart of the English countryside, and how to find those who are lost. Perfect for fans of Outlander, Susanna Kearsley and The Binding.
Author Bio:
Jessica Thorne watched far too much sci-fi and read far too much fantasy at an impressionable age. And it was awesome. She writes fantasy and sci-fi romance with a steampunk edge and just refuses to face reality.
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Virginia travels for days to answer a small town’s call for female inhabitants. She is escaping her past but can she face the future? And will the town of Fortune Springs be part of it?
Small Town Secrets is a stand alone novel from Alys Murray. The book begins with a news report about a town advertising for more women to move there. We then meet a physically and emotionally exhausted Virginia travelling to Fortune Springs. She hasn’t filled in the application and sent in advance, instead it is still clutched in her hand. She is hoping she can just turn up at the Bride House and find a home for a year.
The book is written from Virginia’s first person perspective. She has obviously escaped a traumatic relationship but the details are only revealed gradually as she softens towards the town’s residents. In particular, her heart is nervous of the fire chief Owen who is against the Bride House scheme.
The plot device of the town needing women was an interesting one and Virginia finds friendship and support. The romance with Owen develops gently to allow Virginia’s sense of self to heal after the upset of her past relationship. Bride House owner Calla offers a safe place for Virginia to explore her feelings and plan for the future.
The emotional and physical abuse is handled sensitively as we are informed about it gradually. Virginia’s behaviour exhibits the aftermath of the abuse: the doubts, fear and a complete breaking down of any sense of self worth.
Small Town Secrets is an emotional romantic novel about self belief and self discovery but also the healing power of love.
Small Town Secrets book description:
“Young women needed for the Fortune Springs Town Improvement Initiative. One year’s room and board provided.”
I should have known it was too good to be true when I first saw the ad. It turns out that Fortune Springs, Colorado isn’t just a one-horse town, it’s a two-woman one, and this is their attempt to keep the community alive. I want to say the scheme is ridiculous, totally outdated, but I’m carrying everything I own in my canvas backpack and the greyhound I stepped off this morning is long gone. If this is my chance at a fresh start, I’d better grab it with both hands.
I know I should feel guilty about pretending to be a lonely heart willing to help repopulate this rural logging town, but all I feel is relief at having escaped the apartment in Savannah. And after all, what’s one more secret to add to the pile? I only hope I’ve hidden my tracks well enough, and that the kind Fortune Springs locals who’ve opened their doors to me will never find out what made me run away in the first place…
An emotional, gripping story full of family drama. Fans of Carolyn Brown, Robyn Carr and Debbie Macomber will be hooked.
Author Bio:
Alys Murray is an author who writes for the romantic in all of us. Though she graduated with a degree in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master’s in Film Studies from King’s College London, her irrepressible love of romance led her to a career as an author, and she couldn’t be happier to write these stories! Currently splitting time between her home state of Louisiana and London, she enjoys kissing books, Star Wars, and creating original pie recipes for all of her books. Tobey Maguire is her Spider-Man.
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Teenager Callum Young is missing and then his body is discovered, sparking a murder inquiry. DS Sara Hirst embarks on the investigation and is thrown into a web of drugs and lies. But who killed Callum and why…?
Into Deadly Storms is the second book by Judi Daykin to feature Sara and her team but it is the first that I have read, It works perfectly well as a stand alone novel and there were no spoilers about events or the case in the first book.
Sara Hirst’s character has lots of potential but I felt like she didn’t shine in this book. Her relationship with her boyfriend is struggling due to their work commitments and both feel resentful. She hasn’t spoken to her mother since her father’s funeral and then her stepdad gets in touch with bad news. Her colleagues and her relationships with them take second place to the main murder plot and I wonder if these were established more fully in the first book.
Another main character is Sophie, a teacher at Callum’s school who bought drugs from him. Her descent into despair and desperation prove a distraction to Sara and her team. In contrast is drugs gang leader Lisa London: ruthless, determined, downright scary!
The character I felt most in tune with was Danni, a young woman whose boyfriend’s drug involvement leads to her being a mule. She then uses her own initiative to find favour with the gang boss Lisa. Danni wasn’t a particularly likeable character but she showed more emotion and felt more realistic than any of the other characters in my opinion.
With a plot of drugs and murder, there are some unpleasant parts to the book. There is violence and some forensic detail but not a great deal. The focus of the plot is upon the three main strands of plot: Sara’s investigation, Danni’s drug running and the downfall of teacher Sophie. Three women with very different experiences and aspects to the murder of Callum.
Into Deadly Storms is an interesting and intriguing read overall.
Into Deadly Storms (Detective Sara Hirst #2)
DETECTIVE SARA HIRST RETURNS IN THIS CRACKLING, TWISTY THRILLER SET WITHIN THE MYSTERIOUS BEAUTY OF NORTH NORFOLK.
The half-naked body, wrapped tightly in an old groundsheet, is a bit too long to fit comfortably in the back seat of the car. But he manages to shove it in anyway. Too risky to dump in the sea. There’s a wood nearby. No one will be around right now. Won’t be found till morning.
Anyway, no one will care if the kid doesn’t show up to school. Not some little piece of scum like this . . .
A missing troubled teen.
A body in the woods.
Too many leads.
Detective Sara Hirst faces her toughest case yet in Into Deadly Storms.
Fans of Joy Ellis, J.M. Dalgliesh, Matt Brolly,Rachel Lynch and Angela Marsons, get ready for your next favourite detective.
READERS CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF JUDI DAYKIN:
“OMG, this was one of the best first books I have ever read.” Denise
“I loved this first book.” Greta
“A really good read.” Barbara
“Sara Hirst is a great character.” Nerys
“What an astonishing debut crime novel.” Hazel
THE DETECTIVE
In her mid-thirties, DS Sara Hirst has left a successful career in London’s Metropolitan Police Force and taken a new post in Norfolk Police’s Serious Crimes Unit. Unfortunately, her welcome on the team is far from warm, and Sara will have to work hard to prove herself when the discovery of a body on her first morning leads to all kinds of difficulties.
THE SETTING
A patchwork of tiny rural villages, with quaint coastal seaside resorts and peppered by farms, on a bewildering network of small back lanes. There are no motorways here, and sometimes it feels like your nearest neighbour lives in Holland.
Bounded on one side by the Norfolk Broads and the Wash on the other, its greatest feature is the boundless skies. The weather changes before your eyes. To many, it seems like a fairytale, a cherished memory of childhood holidays. In reality, these are small hard-working communities, where people tend to mind their own business, and it’s easy to keep a dark secret.
ALSO BY JUDI DAYKIN
DS SARA HIRST SERIES
Book 1: UNDER VIOLENT SKIES
Book 2: INTO DEADLY STORMS
JUDI DAYKIN
Yorkshire born, Judi has lived, worked and made theatre in Norfolk for the last forty years. She completed her MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at the University of East Anglia (UEA), and her debut novel was shortlisted for the Little, Brown UEA writer’s prize in 2019.
‘I love the beautiful, vast skies and watery landscapes of Norfolk. Our home in a village on the north coast can feel wonderfully remote, even though the nearest town is only a few miles away. I can’t imagine living anywhere better than this.’
Judi is also a working actor, and has been known to twiddle the knobs on the sound desk for the variety shows at Cromer Pier. She runs her own theatre company, Broad Horizons, specialising in commissioning new plays recovering and retelling women’s stories.
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Mindel Epstein is a confused four year old. She has been ripped away from her parents. Her brothers ran away when she and her sister Rachel were captured by the Nazis. The sisters are Jewish and sent from camp to camp before arriving in Bergen-Belsen where they are cruelly separated. Will they find each other again…?
Not Without My Sister is a highly emotional historical novel set in Nazi Germany. It shows the experience in concentration camps for Jewish female and child prisoners. The setting is quite unique as the camp at Bergen-Belsen was quite different as it wasn’t an extermination camp. The brutality and devastation still strongly resonates and several times I had to put the book aside.
I found this book particularly upsetting as it outlines the experience of children and my own youngest child is the same age as Mindel. Knowing the horrors she witnesses and the heartbreak at being separated from her sister, I found particularly difficult to read.
The book includes the most famous inmates of Bergen-Belsen: the Frank sisters. I think this was done to add an authenticity to the novel but was a little superfluous. The majority of the inmate characters in the book demonstrate the best of humanity in the face of the Nazi atrocities. There are some who focus on their own self preservation and this felt realistic.
Rachel and Mindel’s journey and their frequent ‘almost’ reconciliations provides a new perspective on the Holocaust. The different elements of camp life are explored sensitively but the author never shies away from the brutal reality.
Not Without My Sister is a book that is difficult to enjoy due to the subject matter, but it is utterly engaging and emotional.
1944, Germany. Two sisters seek to overcome impossible odds to be reunited, in this utterly devastating and unforgettable novel about sisterhood, courage and survival.
All they had left was each other. Until the Nazis tore them apart.
After years of hiding from the Nazis, Rachel Epstein and her little sister Mindel are captured by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. The only ray of light for either girl is that they are together.
But on arrival they are separated. As she’s seventeen and deemed an adult, Rachel is sent to work in a brutal factory whilst four-year-old Mindel is sent into the so-called “star” camp for Jewish prisoners. All on her own, Rachel knows her sister will have no chance of survival—unless she can find someone to take care of her.
Working in the windowless, airless factory—filling munitions casings with chemicals that burn her fingers and make her eyes sting—the only thing that keeps Rachel going is the thought of her little sister. Because if there’s even a chance Mindel is alive, Rachel knows she must try to save her.
But, separated by barbed wire, and treated brutally by SS guards who do not even see them as human beings, can either of the orphaned sisters ever dare to hope that they’ll find their way back to each other? And to freedom?
A completely heartbreaking, utterly gripping tale of courage, loss and overcoming impossible odds, perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Ragged Edge of Night and The Orphan’s Tale.
Author Bio:
Marion Kummerow was born and raised in Germany, before she set out to “discover the world” and lived in various countries. In 1999 she returned to Germany and settled down in Munich where she’s now living with her family.
Inspired by the true story about her grandparents, who belonged to the German resistance and fought against the Nazi regime, she started writing historical fiction, set during World War II. Her books are filled with raw emotions, fierce loyalty and resilience. She loves to put her characters through the mangle, making them reach deep within to find the strength to face moral dilemma, take difficult decisions or fight for what is right. And she never forgets to include humor and undying love in her books, because ultimately love is what makes the world go round.
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Scarlet Drew is 18 and considering heading off to university despite her father’s wish that she join the family business. When he is murdered, she decides to avenge his death and throws herself into the family firm and criminal underworld. Does she have what it takes to find his killer and prove her strength…?
Her Revenge is a gripping read. Gritty and authentic, brutal and uncompromising yet also emotional and with a strong sense of family values.
The plot itself centres around the choices of the Drew family. Ronan and Lily run a legitimate business as a front for illegal activities including money laundering. Lily’s twin sons provide the muscle to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies but they don’t have the brains to lead the operation. Ronan hopes his daughter Scarlet will join him but she wants to head to uni instead.
Scarlet is an interesting character as she develops over the course of the book, becoming more confident. She is intelligent but initially lacks the force of personality and experience needed to cope in the criminal underworld. Scarlet wants to prove herself a worthy successor to her father and well as being a strong leader in her own right by avenging his death.
For me, Lily is the best character in the whole book. Lily is scary but the sort of person you would want fighting your corner. She has a strict code of conduct for business but softens for family and anyone vulnerable. Her own vulnerability is highlighted by her response to her daughter’s drug addiction and troublesome behaviour.
The drama is high and relentless. I was completely swept up in the Drew family saga and I am assuming there will be further instalments in the near future.
Another crime dynasty, the Tyler family, feature in this book and I was pleased to meet them again after their wonderful stories in Emma Tallon’s books that I have previously reviewed (Fearless Girl, Ruthless Girl). Her Revenge was a brilliant book and I think I might be becoming a crime drama addict!
EMMA TALLON MEDIA PACK CURRRENT:
Title: Her Revenge
Author: Emma Tallon
PUBLICATION DAY: March 22nd 2021
Description:
Fans of Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers and Jacqui Rose will love this gripping new book from bestselling crime author Emma Tallon.
There’s a new girl in town and she has a score to settle.
Scarlet Drew isn’t to be messed with. As the daughter of a notorious London gangster, she’s got enough street smarts to take on the world. When someone close to Scarlet is murdered in cold blood on the East End streets where she grew up, her family’s honour is at stake and she can only think of one thing – revenge.
Joining her aunt Lily at the head of the family business, Scarlet soon realises that the murder is just one part of a plot by a rival firm to take down the entire Drew empire, and she fears that her aunt could be their next target.
As everything they built begins to crumble, the Drew family find their livelihood and their reputations under pressure. Then, Scarlet’s estranged cousin Ruby suddenly comes back into the family, with a revelation that could tear the Drews apart. But can she be trusted? As Scarlet makes some tough decisions, one thing is for sure: family means everything to her and she will stop at nothing to protect it, even if it means putting her own life at risk.
Strong women, family dramas and nail-biting tension make Her Revenge a book not to be missed!
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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