Jessie Blake faces a double murder scene with the victims’ grandson calmly sat beside one of the bodies eating a sandwich. He has no sign of gunshot residue on his hands so is not the killer, but who is?
Could it be Tommy Angus, the couple’s son who was about to be written out of their will due to his alcoholism?
Could it be neighbour Rachel who reveals her true identity at Alice Cooper, who as a fourteen year old was involved in the double murder of her own grandparents?
The book makes an important point about the problem of teenagers and the age of consent and responsibility. Alice’s experience of a teen in love with a 19 year old demonstrates the difficulty of even a small age range. Is David guilty of abuse and manipulation or were Alice’s feeling valid and was she manipulating him? The law is clear that she was only 14 so the former must be true but this novel cleverly shows both angles. Later in life, 5 years age difference doesn’t matter (isn’t that right, Chris?!)
This is quite emotional at times as detective Jessie struggles to deal with her new relationship as well as the continued presence of her abusive former husband. Meanwhile, charting Alice’s painful journey and desperation for her lover is very raw. The plotline of Gordon Angus and his autistic tendencies (with no diagnosis) and the impact this has on his mother is quite heartbreaking to read.
Her Secret Past deals with some very big issues in a sensitive way. It is also a pretty good murder mystery with a strong yet vulnerable lead detective. I admit that I did guess the killer as there were lots of clues throughout and I also worked out the final twist right at the end, but this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book at all.
Have a look at the previous book in the series: Her Missing Child.
Author: Kerry Watts
Book: HER SECRET PAST
Publication Day: 22/01/2020
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Description:
Jean Angus pours the last of the lukewarm tea into her chipped cup, shivering as she looks outside into the dark night. Her eyes are drawn to a slow movement not far from her cosy farmhouse. She’s not expecting visitors. And as the back door opens with a bang, she doesn’t even have time to shout for help.
On a dark winter night, the bodies of Malcolm and Jean Angus lie cold and still in a pool of blood in their kitchen. Detective Jessie Blake is called in to find out what happened to the reclusive pair.
Searching the couple’s property, Jessie learns about a vicious dispute with a nearby land owner, Rachel Ferguson, and when Jessie looks into Rachel further, she doesn’t expect what comes up. Rachel isn’t the person everyone thinks she is and a previous murder conviction just made her Jessie’s prime suspect.
The small Perthshire town begins to gossip about the double murder and Jessie’s own past comes back to haunt her, when her abusive ex-husband begins to interfere in her new life. As the town starts a witch hunt against Rachel, Jessie is under pressure to find out what really happened in the farmhouse that night. Because if it isn’t Rachel, then who is the murderer living among them, waiting to kill again?
If you like LJ Ross, Val McDermid and Helen H. Durrant, you’ll love this addictive new crime thriller from Kerry Watts. Her Secret Past will have you hooked from the start!
Author Bio:
Kerry Watts was born and grew up in a small town in the East of Scotland where she still lives today. She is always writing and carries a little notebook and pen with her wherever she goes because at her age ideas need to be captured before they disappear.
Kerry specialises in crime fiction because she enjoys pushing the boundaries of what it is to be human. The nature versus nurture debate
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In 1944 the Jews of Corfu are gathered together ready for deportation. One family has sent their younger children to live with another family. Can any of them survive the Naiz Final Solution?
In the present day, James and Amber have left their high powered and highly stressful careers to start up a restaurant and hotel in Corfu but can they find the peace and contentment they are looking for?
Burning Island is written from 4 perspectives, James and Amber in the present, and Rebekka and her sisters in the past.
I was quite annoyed with James for his increasing selfishness which drives a wedge between him and his wife. His cameraderie with Greg and their immaturity and campaign against a local hotel are unpleasant and chilldish. Amber is a much more sympathetic character, friendly and kind to the locals and trying to keep her marriage happy.
I admit to feeling a little frustrated as I found the historical part of the book much more important than the parts in the present day, but they only accounted for a third or less of the actual book. The tragedy of Rebekka’s experience and her hopes for her sisters make this a highly emotional book and an excellent reminder never to let the atrocities of the Nazis be forgotten, nor the heartbreaking stories of barbarity and bravery.
The Corfu atmosphere is beautifully evoked in Suzanne Goldring’s rich narrative. The historical note at the end adds a poignancy and realism to the tragedy which is mentioned but not openly discussed: the forced deportation of the island’s Jews which resulted in almost all dying on the journery or being sent straight to the gas chambers. It is a horrifying reminder of the grotesque aspect of humanity but the glimmer of hope still shines as represented in the book by the Greek couple Georgiou and Agata saving two members of the Jewish family.
The ending is rather abrupt but then we also discover the tragic outcome for Rebekka when she arrives in Auschwitz. Overall, this is a terrible, wonderful read.
Take a look at my review of Suzanne Goldring’s previous WW2 based book: My Name Is Eva
Book Description:
They were not her children. But she would protect them with her life…
Corfu 1944. Though they don’t know it, five-year-old Matilde and three-year-old Anna have kissed their mother for the last time. The Nazis have reached their sun-scorched home, and they are being taken to a place of safety, on the north-eastern tip of the rocky island, to be hidden at great risk by kindly Agata and her husband until the terrible war is over.
Matilde and Anna’s tears are soothed by Agata’s bedtime stories, but she is always alert. So far no soldiers have ventured down the steep rocky hillside to their secret haven, but Agata knows they are constantly scouring the island for missing Jews. And then, on a day when Agata’s husband is away, a German soldier appears…
2016. Under a baking June sun, Amber and her husband arrive in Corfu from England, hoping for a fresh start. But not everyone is pleased by their arrival, and with the pressures of pregnancy, the couple grow further apart. Desperate to find a sense of belonging for herself and her unborn child, Amber finds herself drawn to the local story of two little girls, left by their parents and hidden for their own protection.
But there are some who would rather Amber left Corfu’s terrible history well in the past. Can Amber uncover the heart-breaking truth about the two little girls, and what happened after a German soldier took a swim in the bay by their house? If she does, can the secrets of the past help her find happiness, or send her running from the island, alone?
A gripping, heart-wrenching and compelling read about the shadows at the heart of the sun-drenched island of Corfu and survival against all odds. Fans of Victoria Hislop, The Nightingale and The Tattooist of Auschwitz will fall in love with Burning Island.
Author Bio:
Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specialising in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Her debut novel MY NAME IS EVA draws on her experience of volunteering in a care home and was partially inspired by a cache of wartime love letters which were saved from the flames. Her second novel, BURNING ISLAND, is set in Corfu, a place of fun and beauty but also tremendous tragedy.
Suzanne writes in her thatched cottage in Hampshire and a seaside cottage in Cornwall.
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Former journalist Dee discovers the body of her friend Katie, a victim of a hit and run. Or so it seems…
The police soon discover that the body is not Katie’s but a woman who looks a great deal like her and was wearing her clothes and pushing her buggy. Where has Dee’s friend gone and has she taken her missing son?
Dee uses her journalist connections and talents to investigate Katie’s life and finds out secrets that have caused her to hide away for years and explain her current disappearance.
The plot is split into the viewpoints of Dee in the present and Katie in the past. In Part 2 of the book (the final quarter) it also shows us Ella’s perspective.
I really liked the way that author Sheila Bugler gives us Katie’s story but doesn’t sugar coat the nastiness and selfishness of her character. Any initial sympanthy I felt towards her was quickly diminished by her relentless jealousy of Ella and manipulation of Shane.
Dee’s determination to find her friend is a powerful plot focus but we also have the strands of her own personal life to make her more human: the alcoholic husband she has divorced, the grief at the death of her mother, the hint of a romance with the lead detective whilst also being pursued by her married neighbour.
I Could Be You was a hugely enjoyable psychological and crime thriller, cleverly written with twists and suspense to keep us readers on our toes!
About the book:
A life has been taken. But whose life is it?
On a stifling hot day, former journalist Dee Doran finds the crumpled body of her friend at the roadside. Katie and her little boy, Jake, have been a light in Dee’s otherwise desolate life – now a woman is dead and her son is missing.
Katie has been keeping secrets for a long time. Years earlier, she fell for the wrong person. But he was in love with someone else; who he couldn’t have but couldn’t keep away from. When jealousy and desire spilled over into murder Katie hid the truth, and has been pretending ever since.
As Dee assists the police with their enquiries she’s compelled to investigate too. She realises Katie wasn’t who she claimed to be. Lies are catching up. Stories are becoming unravelled. Revenge is demanded and someone must pay the price. The question is: who?
Don’t miss this explosive crime thriller perfect for fans for Alex Marwood and Fiona Barton.
I approached this book with a little trepidation as the previous book that I’d read from Terry Tyler was absolutely superb (see my review of Hope).
Could Tipping Point live up to my expectations…?
YES!
The arrival of a deadly disease is spreadng across the world. Some have been vaccinated but most are doomed. Vicky’s lover Dex is part of a secret group, trying to gather intelligence prior to the outbreak. He leaves Vicky and her daughter Vicky with supplies and then goes off to a secret meeting but can’t return before their town is cordoned off and put in quarantine, allegedly to prevent the spread of disease.
Tipping Point is set in the very near future, just 4 years away. It feels very real and believable which ramps up the tension and anticipation for the reader.
The majority of the book is written from Vicky’s first person viewpoint which makes us like her for her vulnerability and humanity. Her actions are completely plausible as are her emotional reactions to the events which unfold in the book.
There is also humour in Tipping Point at the expense of characters who don’t want to give up in face of the situation (sneering at scant food options and snobbery over clothes shops, for example). The best and worst of humanity is showcased within the pages of this book, and the potential ‘what ifs’ of how we would respond to the situation drives the reader’s enjoyment of Terry Tyler’s excellent plot.
I didn’t realise that this is the first in a series (all of which have been published) so now need to hunt down the rest! It does end sufficiently with hope and a plan for the future that you don’t need to read on but I guarantee you will want to find out more too!
Tipping Point (Project Renova #1)
Publishing Date: September 2018
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
Review Period: October 2019 to January 2020
‘I didn’t know danger was floating behind us on the breeze as we walked along the beach, seeping in through the windows of our picture postcard life.’
The year is 2024. A new social networking site bursts onto the scene. Private Life promises total privacy, with freebies and financial incentives for all. Across the world, a record number of users sign up.
A deadly virus is discovered in a little known African province, and it’s spreading—fast. The UK announces a countrywide vaccination programme. Members of underground group Unicorn believe the disease to be man-made, and that the people are being fed lies driven by a vast conspiracy.
Vicky Keating’s boyfriend, Dex, is working for Unicorn over two hundred miles away when the first UK outbreak is detected in her home town of Shipden, on the Norfolk coast. The town is placed under military controlled quarantine and, despite official assurances that there is no need for panic, within days the virus is unstoppable.
In London, Travis begins to question the nature of the top secret data analysis project he is working on, while in Newcastle there are scores to be settled…
About the Author
Terry Tyler is the author of nineteen books available from Amazon, the latest being ‘Hope’, a dystopian, psychological drama set in the UK, a decade into the future. She is currently at work on ‘Blackthorn’, a post-apocalyptic stand-alone story set in her fictional city of the same name. Proud to be independently published, Terry is an avid reader and book reviewer, and a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team.
Terry is a Walking Dead addict, and has a great interest in history (particularly 14th-17th century), and sociological/cultural/anthropological stuff, generally. She loves South Park, Netflix, autumn and winter, and going for long walks in quiet places where there are lots of trees. She lives in the north east of England with her husband.
