TRIGGER WARNING: this book deals with suicide and mental illness
A failed suicide attempt sees Coleman Cooper’s life change. He is taken off his medication and moved out of the mental health institution and into a new open facility. He manages to get a job and a even a romantic entanglement. But the town is experiencing a spate of murders…
Coleman is an absolutely wonderful character. He is instantly likeable, self deprecating and has a vulnerability that really tugged at my heart. I’m not sure I have ever felt such warmth for a character in a book before!
I loved the use of first person narrative to show us Coleman’s perspective. There were also chapters written from another character’s book about the murders to keep us focussed on the killers and victims. But it really is Coleman’s personality that draws the reader in and makes this book so enjoyable.
The murders are an enjoyable plot device for getting Coleman to interact with other characters. I was kept guessing by the twists of the investigation right up until the final reveal at the end of the book.
The style of writing was so good that I was swept up in Coleman’s life from start to finish and found myself really caring about his character and hoping that he would find some happiness.
Something I Keep Upstairs is one of the best books I have read this year!
Something I Keep Upstairs book description:
Coleman Cooper is a troubled young man who can never get anything right—not even his own suicide.
When he is sent to an open-door mental health facility in a small New England village to get his life back on track, his journey darkens even further: someone starts killing the psychiatrists, one by one.
After taking a job tending bar at a local country inn—the social heart of the quirky little town where everyone knows everyone and grudges can last for decades—Coleman unwittingly finds himself at the center of the investigation, even a suspect.
Yet as villagers dread news of more victims and the police come up empty-handed, it is Coleman, and he alone, who discovers the twisted path to the killer’s identity—and the door to a new life for himself.
About the author:
Philip Crawford is a former writer and editor for the Paris-based International Herald Tribune (now The New York Times International Edition). A graduate of Amherst College and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, he divides his time between Paris and Aix-en-Provence. Visit his website at https://www.philipcrawfordauthor.com/
Twenty years ago, Evie’s older brother Ethan confessed to a murder and went to prison. Now he is out and returns home on the death of his father, claiming his innocence. Evie struggles with her own emotions as well as the resentment of the local community. Can Ethan reveal secrets that prove his innocence?
The plot of No More Secrets is delivered in a range of timelines but mainly 1994 in the lead up to the murder, 1995 in the trial and 2015 as the present. The flashback chapters do not appear in a linear way so darts back and forth with the present. This feels a little disjointed to read but I think it is effective for representing the mental breakdown Evie has experienced.
Evie’s confusion and the way her brain has blanked out the day of the murder makes it clear that her own mind is keeping secrets. However despite a number of suspicions, the true events are not revealed until the very end.
My sympathy was much more directed at Ethan than Evie as it become clears that he has been the scapegoat and accepted the prison sentence and harsh opinion of his friends and family. I wanted him to prove his innocence but feared that he was also keeping secrets which would prevent his exoneration.
The events of the book are intense and the family links between the main characters is a dynamic that is easy to identify with. The impetuous nature of teenagers was also very authentic which gave the plot and characters an added realism.
Overall, No More Secrets was an enjoyable psychological and family drama.
Media Kit:
Title: No More Secrets
Author: Jennifer Harvey
Publication Day: Oct 21st 2020
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Description:
No-one confesses to a murder they didn’t commit, do they?
I haven’t seen my brother for twenty years. Not since he killed the man I loved.
Now he’s back.
I have imagined this scene a million times. What would he say to me?
But nothing could prepare me for this. What he’s saying is impossible:
“I didn’t do it.”
He must be lying. Who confesses to a murder they didn’t commit?
Everyone in our town wants him gone. Everyone’s scared of him. Even me.
But maybe one of them is more scared of being found out…
And when I see something in his eyes that reminds me of everything we used to be, I realise I need to know the truth.
No matter what it costs me. No matter who wants to keep it hidden…
A dark, emotional story of a family left shattered by the legacy of a terrible crime and the question of how well we truly know the ones we love. Fans of Catherine McKenzie and Tracy Buchanan will be totally gripped by this haunting and compelling read.
Author Bio:
Jennifer Harvey is a Scottish writer now living in The Netherlands.
She is the author of three novels.
Her short stories have been published in numerous literary magazines in the US and the UK, such as Bare Fiction, Litro Online, Carve Magazine, Folio, and The Lonely Crowd.
She has been shortlisted for various short story prizes including the Bristol Prize, the University of Sunderland Short Story Award and the Bridport Prize. Her radio dramas have won prizes and commendations from the BBC World Service. She has been longlisted twice for the Bath Novel Award.
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A young woman is murdered in a small town. The police are investigating but personal relationships and the interconnected community make it tricky to discover the truth.
The plot of Everybody Lies is delivered through 3 narrative perspectives: Caroline, Evvy and Daisy. Caroline and Evvy are friends and both were married to police officers. Now Caroline’s marriage is facing a trial separation and Evvy has divorced Cyrus but is probably still in love with him. Daisy is Evvy’s daughter and sort of dating Caroline’s son.
The murder is of secondary importance. We see little of the victim or the investigation, just the impact on the three main women and therefore their families. I felt that the women were realistic as were the dilemmas they face. The first person narrative for eachpoint of view helps the reader to identify with the women’s feelings and understand their actions.
This book was a slow burner due to the establishment of the relationships and character development. So many of the characters are keeping secrets and lying, creating plot twists and turns which are gripping to read. The shocking revelations develop gradually over the course of the book and the ending was completely unexpected.
Everybody Lies was an enjoyable book with plenty of emotion and drama.
Emily Cavanagh Media Kit:
Title: Everybody Lies
Publication Day – Oct 15th 2020
Author: Emily Cavanagh
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Description:
It sometimes feels impossible to keep anything hidden in a place like Great Rock. But now they have found that poor girl down on the beach, I realize just how many secrets we’ve been keeping all along.
Evvy has lived on the island of Great Rock all her life. Every year, after the holidaymakers have departed, storms begin to roll in off the Atlantic and the island returns to the small group of locals who, like her, have decided to make it their home.
When a body is found on the snow-covered beach it sends shockwaves through this tight-knit community and rattles Evvy to her core.
The dead woman worked on the island the previous summer and it seems strange she would have been visiting so out of season. What drew her back and who was she meeting? When Evvy learns that her partner,Ian, was the last person to see her alive, the shadow of the murder falls far too close to home.
As the icy weather closes in, the island is cut off from the mainland, and Ian is taken into custody. Rumours about what is really going on in Great Rock reach fever pitch, as Evvy works to prove Ian’s innocence before it’s too late.
But there are things about the people she loves that Evvy doesn’t know or has chosen not to see. The truth might not save the life she has worked so hard to build for herself. Instead, it might tear it apart…
A tense and atmospheric emotional drama that will keep you guessing. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Diane Chamberlain and Sally Hepworth.
Author Bio:
A teacher as well as a writer, Emily Cavanagh lives with her husband, two daughters, and an Australian Shepherd on Martha’s Vineyard Island. Her work has been published in Red Rock Review, Grain Magazine, Transfer, and Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Ideas. Read more about Emily’s work and life at www.emilycavanaghauthor.com.
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Anna’s grandfather Max is 94 and the discovery of a Parisian apartment frozen in time deeply affects him. He begs Anna to travel to his childhood home in Germany and retrieve an engagement ring hidden there seventy years earlier. Anna travels to Germany but finds the locals and new owner to be unhelpful. Can she find the ring and Max’s lost love?
The House by the Lake has a dual timeline of Anna in 2010 and Max in the 1930s. We first met Isabelle de Florian in Paris Time Capsule but now find out much more about her life and love. However, this would work just as well as a stand alone novel, and perhaps it would even work better as the first in the series as readers of the first book already know what happens to Isabelle so the impact is reduced.
The build up of the relationship between Isabelle and Max develops in contrast to the rise of Nazism and the political situation in Europe. The class and social struggles that Isabelle faces at first fade to insignificance compared to the prospect of war.
I liked the use of a relationship between a French woman and German man to show the troubles faced by both nationalities in the lead up to war. There is a feeling of hope at the end of the book which softens the heartache of earlier events.
Anna in the present day is tenacious in her search for her grandfather’s ring and his lost love. The descriptions of Germany and the house are vivid, and I felt drawn into the mystery even as it unfolds in the earlier timeline.
Overall, The House By The Lake was an enjoyable historical novel about love and loss.
The House by the Lake book description:
The cobbled streets were dark as Isabelle hurried through the shadows, dodging in and out of doorways, constantly looking back. She worried the sound of her loudly thumping heart would give her away, as she peered around a corner. Suddenly, Isabelle was surrounded by Nazi soldiers, their black boots pounding on the pavement, barring her way…
1939, Berlin. Max Albrecht is the young and handsome heir to a beautiful house on a lake where he spent his happy childhood. As war approaches, his parents tell him he must join the Nazi party or the whole family will be killed. But when his beloved French fiancé Isabelle shows him the horrifying truth, Max faces an impossible choice: protect his family or save the girl he loves?
2010, San Francisco. Anna Young is content with her life, running a bustling deli and taking care of her adored grandfather Max, who raised her. Max has never spoken of his past until he hands over an old map, the plans to a grand house just north of Berlin. With a shaking finger, he points to it and says, “I left something behind under the floorboards. Please bring it home before I die.”
When Anna arrives at the crumbling manor in Germany, she discovers a hidden engagement ring in a velvet box. She is desperate to find the woman her grandfather hoped to marry, but the local villagers look away when she mentions Max’s name, and back in San Francisco he is now in hospital, too unwell to speak to her. What did Max do so many years ago? Is Anna ready for the terrible secret that her family’s past may hold?
From bestselling author Ella Carey comes an unforgettable novel, weaving together past and present. Gripping and heartbreaking, The House by the Lake uncovers the secrets and devastating choices that people were forced to make during history’s darkest time.
Author Bio:
Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over fourteen languages, in twelve countries, and have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.
Ella loves to connect with her readers regularly through her facebook page and on her website.
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Beth has an intense relationship with her seven year old son due to his anxiety. She has no partner, no friends and no family she can turn to for support. After a screaming tantrum in a supermarket, children’s services get involved and take Dylan away, placing him in foster care. Beth is determined to get him back home where he belongs. Ally fosters Dylan but her own family begins to fall apart. Can the two women become friends and support each other…?
When You Were MIne is such a heartbreakingly emotional book. I battle with myself about being too overprotective of my children yet don’t want to be so relaxed that I feel negligent. It is such a careful balance and Kate Hewitt has done an excellent job at presenting this dilemma.
Beth and Dylan are caught in a vicious circle and though it is dreadful to separate children from their parents, sometimes distance can bring about positive change.
Ally is a wonderful character. Proud of her teenagers, she imagines she has a perfect life and wants to give something back in the form of fostering. The events of the book show that opportunities and good parenting only go so far and an individual has the freedom to make their own choices in life that may not correspond to the dreams of their parents.
Beth and Ally are in contrast throughout the book and see each other as rivals, almost enemies. Both have Dylan’s best interests at heart but have been placed in opposition by the justice system. Each chapter alternates between the two women and this is a really clever way to make us care and empathise with them both equally.
When You Were Mine book description:
“Dylan…” I croak, but my little boy doesn’t even look at me. “Dylan!” My voice is louder now, and my gaze stays locked with my son’s as the car pulls away from the curb and drives away, taking my very life with her.
Single mother Beth loves her seven-year-old son Dylan with all her heart. He’s her world. So when a terrible series of events lead Dylan to be taken into foster care, she is determined to do whatever she can to get him back.
Mother of two, Ally has always dreamed of fostering—it feels like her chance to give back when she has been so lucky in life. But when Dylan joins their family, Ally finds herself struggling to balance his needs with those of her own children and husband—something Beth can’t help but witness when she visits.
Beth wants nothing more than to find a way to bring her beloved child home. But when she also sees Dylan bonding with Ally, she has to ask herself – where is the right home for Dylan? She wants to believe it is with her… But does a mother always know what’s best for her child?
A beautiful, powerful and ultimately hopeful story of the heartbreaking power of a mother’s love, for fans of Diane Chamberlain, Jodi Picoult and Jojo Moyes.
Author Bio:
Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.
http://kate-hewitt.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KateHewittAuthor/
https://twitter.com/author_kate
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://bit.ly/2GNWaJO
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Google: https://bit.ly/31bfurG
