Eve Mallow has now settled into the village of Saxford after the murderous experience in book 1 of the series, Mystery on Hidden Lane.
Ashton Foley, bad boy made good, returns home to the village to support the church roof fund and see his mum. He asks Eve to write about him but she is back to business as usual as an obituary writer when he is found dead. His mum asks Eve to investigate in order to protect her lover who never got on with her son, but this puts Eve in danger…
This book continues the gentleness of the series despite the content of murder and drug trafficking/grooming! The village characters spring to life in the same way as in Agatha Christie and MC Beaton books, producing plenty of suspects and potential motives.
I felt that this was a less personal book in terms of Eve’s character. We saw little of her relationship and emotions with her ex husband and children compared to the first book. Her love interest Simon has moved on but she is developing a solid friendship with retired police officer Robin.
The pace of Mystery at Apple Tree Cottage is reasonably fast despite the cosy feeling of the narrative. Eve is a fun and interesting lead character and it is easy to get carried along with her escapades. Overall, a very enjoyable murder mystery!
Media Kit:
Title: Mystery at Apple Tree Cottage
Author: Clare Chase
Publication Day: March 12th 2020
BUY LINKS:
Description:
Obituary writer and amateur sleuth Eve Mallow is enjoying life in sleepy Saxford St Peter – until a mysterious murder lands right at her door…
It’s spring in Saxford St Peter – time to get back in the garden, listen to the birds, and take gentle strolls in the woods. But for some, it’s the season for murder.
Eve Mallow is relishing the gentle pace of the village until a new arrival stirs everyone up. Ashton Foley is back: a teenage tearaway turned interior designer to the stars. He’s mad, bad and dangerous to know, but charming too – as Eve herself can testify – and every house in Saxford opens its doors to him.
So when he’s found murdered in the woods near his mother’s home, Apple Tree Cottage, there’s no shortage of suspects. A jealous husband? A spurned lover? Or has someone from his past life caught up with him?
The police soon hit on a simple solution, and arrest his mother’s partner Howard. Ashton always hated him, and he bears all the marks of a recent fight. But Ashton’s mother, miles away in New Zealand, is convinced he’s innocent, and enlists Eve’s help to prove it.
There’s just one problem. Eve saw Howard sniffing around Apple Tree Cottage on the morning of the murder, and she’s fairly sure he’s guilty, too…
An unputdownable page-turner, perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Agatha Christie and Betty Rowlands.
Author Bio:
Clare Chase writes women sleuth mysteries. After graduating from London University with a degree in English Literature, Clare moved to Cambridge and has lived there ever since. She’s fascinated by the city’s contrasts and contradictions, which feed into her writing. She’s worked in diverse settings – from the 800-year-old University to one of the local prisons – and lived everywhere from the house of a Lord to a slug-infested flat. The terrace she now occupies, with her husband and teenage children, presents a good happy medium.
As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.
You can find Clare’s website and blog at www.clarechase.com
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Goodness, what a heartbreaking novel! But also uplifting…
Jem has been declared bankrupt, she has split up with her boyfriend Ben and moved back in with her mum. She writes him a letter to put events and her feelings in to words, planning to burn it but her mum ‘helpfully’ posts it. Cue a dash to Cornwall to try to retrieve it, coming face to face with the man she still loves…
Trying to move on with her life, Jem starts a new relationship with Mitch but all is not what it seems. Plus she is dealing with her mum’s cancer diagnosis.
The chatty style that author Anna Mansell uses it so endearing and natural. Jem has huge potential but fails to see it so, before she can move on in her life and relationships, she needs to see the good in herself that is obvious to others.
The content of Jem’s letter to Ben is gradually revealed over the course of the book. The guilt she has been enduring is painful and unwarranted: it just feels oh so real. As always, I hadn’t read the blurb so had no idea what to expect. By the end I was blubbing.
The new relationship with Mitch is a tricky one. I felt uncomfortable about his behaviour from the start and his manipulation gradually extends. There is so much warmth in this book despite the mystery and feeling of unease of Mitch’s behaviour.
Jems’ mum’s cancer battle is so sad. It feels honest and reading the author’s notes at the end it becomes clear that Anna is writing from personal experience.
This all sounds a bit heavy but actually there is plenty of humour and the turn of phrase lifts the whole book. The raw emotion of The Man I Loved Before is so beautifully written that it captivates the reader.
Such a good book!
Anna Mansell Media Kit:
Title: THE MAN I LOVED BEFORE
Author: ANNA MANSELL
PUBLICATION DAY: 10/03/2020
BUY LINKS:
Description:
‘Dear Ben, I can only write you this letter because I know you’ll never read it…’
When Jem writes to her ex Ben, it’s to explain everything. All the secrets she kept from him – from the little lies she’d sometimes tell about how new those shoes really were, or how many glasses of wine she’d had that evening… right up to The Big Thing that happened on the night that changed everything. But she never expects he will actually see what she’s written.
She is just writing because she thinks it will help to get the words out. Later, she resolves, she’ll burn the letter, and then the past will be in the past for good.
Because Jem is doing fine now. She’s busy: working, spending time with her best friend, and looking after her mother, who’s in remission from cancer. She’s even dating again and has just met a guy who she thinks she could actually fall for. At long last, Jem is really, definitely somewhere close to happy.
But her mum finds the letter and thinks she’s doing Jem a favour when she posts it to Ben. And Jem’s new, carefully rebuilt life begins to unravel in ways she could never have imagined. Then, when her mother gets ill again, she finds herself asking who has the key to her future. The man she’s falling in love with now? Or the man she loved before?
A heartbreaking, beautifully honest novel that will stay with readers long after they finish it. Perfect for fans of Diane Chamberlain, Amanda Prowse, and Susan Lewis.
Author Bio:
Anna had a brush with ‘fame’ as a magician’s assistant back in 1977. She later decided that being sawn in half by her magical performing father, at barely 6 months old, was too submissive a role. She vowed to channel the trauma into something much more pro-actively creative. Having failed at acting, singing and professional murder mystery parties (she was ALWAYs the one to die!), she fell to something much more solitary: writing. Anna lives on a dairy farm in Cornwall with her two children, her husband, and her ex-racing greyhound, Olive Dog.
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Heather Shaw returns to her family home to help her dad with the neighbour’s luxurious garden while her mother cares for a sick relative. She isn’t prepared for the onslaught of emotions that seeing her first love Lucas will cause.
Lucas is in a very unhappy marriage to Elizabeth and is trying to close the deal of a lifetime. Can their marriage survive Heather’s return and the pressure of work…?
My Perfect Wife is quite unique in that it repeatedly changes our opinions of the lead characters. We are led to make assumptions which are then turned on their head. My sympathy wavered according to the point in the book. But the conclusions are devastating for them all…
There is plenty of tension in all of the relationships in the book. I felt that Heather’s dad’s behaviour towards her was awful and had no idea why she still wanted anything to do with him. Lucas and Elizabeth are desperately unhappy together but hiding it as best they can. Heather has an awkwardness with her neighbours due to her past with Lucas and the pressure of being in their employ. Agata and Piotr are separated from the others by language, money and status.
The style of the narrative is interesting. Heather’s parts are written in the first person so we see more of her emotional state and thought processes, whilst the rest is in the third person and mainly tells of Elizabeth’s experiences. We see Lucas’ character through their eyes and this leads to the uncertainty about his true nature.
There is an unpleasantness in the book and I feel that we as readers are also manipulated into our assumptions about the characters. Important topics are covered including gambling, mental health and unequal sexual relationships. Whilst I don’t feel a trigger warning is required, I do think it is important to note that sensitive subjects are included.
My Perfect Wife is certainly an intriguing read and will have you both confused and entertained as the relationships and events are unpicked over the course of the book.
Media Kit:
Title: My Perfect Wife
Publication Day: 04/03/2020
Author: Clare Boyd
BUY LINKS
Description:
I finally have everything I ever wanted. A home with floor-to-ceiling windows, a devoted husband who dazzles everyone he meets, and two angelic children I adore. But as I watch my husband chatting with the girl next door, I wonder if anyone can see the sadness in my pretty pink smile, or hear the scream behind my straight white teeth?
I know I’m crazy to think there’s a hint of desire in his eyes.
I know it’s madness to see a flicker of fear in hers.
I know all this, because I’ve been wrong before.
And if I’m wrong again, he’ll try to take my children away.
The party is my last chance to prove to my husband that I’m on the mend, that I can handle something as simple as a drinks reception without snapping under the pressure. It’s all going perfectly, until I see something in the swimming pool that changes everything. But if I can’t trust myself to believe it’s real, who will?
A totally unputdownable page-turner about the darker side of love and what really goes on under the surface of perfect-looking lives. Clever and unexpected, this book will have you gripped from the very first page until the dramatic final twist. Fans of The Wife Between Us and The Mother-in-Law will be hooked.
Author Bio:
Clare lives with her husband and their two daughters in Surrey, where her little green shed at the bottom of the garden provides a haven for her writing life. Before becoming a writer, she enjoyed a career in television, as a researcher in documentaries and then as a script editor in drama at the BBC and Channel Four, where her love of storytelling took hold.
Author Social Media Links:
FACEBOOK: clare.boyd.14
TWITTER: @ClareBoydClark
INSTAGRAM: claresboyd
