Finnegan Beck’s latest case is the murder of Eddie Kavanagh, beaten to death but not robbed of the engagement ring he was carrying. Beck is convinced that there is a connection with a local brothel but his superiors are skeptical. Then other witnesses are found murdered too…
Finnegan Beck is a complex character and his personal life is at the forefront of this novel. He is back to drinking, although managing to restrict himself so that he can still work. His lover moves in but she is the wife of his former chief superintendent who refuses to allow him to return to his former police role.
I liked the relationship between Beck and Claire who wants to take exams and progress her career but feels compelled to follow procedure rather than acting on instinct. There is also the spectre of his parents’ unhappy marriage and untimely deaths. This affects his drinking and whole attitude towards the case. He suffers flashbacks and remembers details he has blanked out for years.
Her Last Goodnight is a much more emotional book than the previous two in the series (Where She Lies and The Child Before). We gain a better insight into Beck’s history whilst also despairing at his life choices. His dogged determination and commitment to justice shine through the novel whilst author Michael Scanlon also demonstrates his softer side with the fostering of the murder victim’s dog Max.
Overall, a very enjoyable police procedure novel with a very human emotional core.
Media Kit:
Title: Her Last Goodnight
Author: Michael Scanlon
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Publication Day: 14/01/2020
Description:
Eddie stands at his door anxiously waiting for her to arrive, touching the box in his pocket for luck. He doesn’t hear the footsteps behind him until it’s too late…
Detective Finnegan Beck is called to a violent crime scene – a remote house near the rural Irish town of Cross Beg – where a dog lies whimpering beside his beloved owner’s body.
At first it looks like a burglary gone wrong. But Beck spots something his colleagues didn’t. The victim, Eddie Kavanagh, was wearing his smartest clothes. He’d brushed his hair. And, on closer inspection, a small velvet box containing an engagement ring is discovered in his pocket, along with a letter to a nameless woman, which seems to suggest she’s in danger.
Those who knew Eddie have no idea about a female friend though – there’s been no one in his life since a girl who he’d loved and who’d broken his heart decades before.
So who was the woman Eddie was waiting for? And did his connection with her ultimately lead to his murder? When a beautiful young woman is then found beaten to death, murdered exactly as Eddie had been, Beck has to ask – is the danger over? Or is it just beginning?
An absolutely addictive and atmospheric crime novel that will leave you gasping for breath. If you love gripping thrillers from Rachel Caine, Robert Dugoni and Kendra Elliot, you won’t be able to put this one down.
Author Bio:
Michael Scanlon is a civilian employee of the An Garda Siochana (the Irish police force), but a life threatening undiagnosed illness that struck while travelling in Spain in 2014 has rendered him on long term sick leave. He is married to Eileen and has a daughter, Sarah. He lives in the countryside outside the town of Ballina in County Mayo. The town has arguably the best salmon river in Europe, called the Moy.
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Susan HIll has been terrifying me since I was little (aged about 10 and there is NO WAY I would let Matthew read it as he approaches the same age!) when I read and then watched The Woman In Black. I also saw the theatre production in my 20s and scared myself silly.
Simply spooky and devastatingly good.
I have had The Small Hand on my Kindle for ages but not got around to reading it. Then I saw that a TV version was being aired over the Christmas holidays and decided to read the book before watching the show.
Adam Snow is a dealer in antique books and travelling home one day he discovers The White House, an abandoned stately home and gardens. Whilst exploring the grounds, he feels a small hand hold his. There then follows a number of spooky incidents and danger. Adam returns to the house to look for answers and meets an elderly woman but is she a ghost as well…?
It is a short book of only 170 pages so easy to read in a couple of hours. I made the BIG MISTAKE of reading it at night and stopping halfway to sleep. An hour later, I woke from a ghostly nightmare and clung to Chris, terrified that a small figure would grab my hand (not Zach this time).
The Small Boy is genuinely creepy. I found the characters to be realistic which added to the unsettling feeling as it could be real (I do believe in ghosts!)
The ending of the book disappointed me a little as it was too subtle and left questions unanswered. However, my overall impression of the book is a respectful ‘fearfully good’.
There was no way that I was going to watch Susan Hill’s A Ghost Story on my own or at night so I called in my mum to ‘protect’ me during a daytime viewing.
So how did the TV version compare with the book? Well, it was completely different!
I appreciate how difficult it must be to convey fear and horror of the subtlety that Susan Hill uses in her writing without a load of special effects, spooky music and panoramic camera angles.
The plot had a slight shift in focus as subsidiary characters were given prominence, in particular Adam’s brother and his friend’s wife. Who he just happens to be having an affair with… Cue some bonking which is definitely not in the book! (Bonking is Mum’s word :D)
Denisa is a young woman and very definitely a ghost in the TV adaptation. Yep, more bonking in a flashback scene…
We didn’t jump with terror whilst watching it (except when my postman sneakily delivered the post, I wish Ollie wasn’t deaf so could still bark a warning!)
The ending was completely unexpected due to a deviation from the book. The final scene was utterly chilling and heartbreaking, leaving a lingering feeling of sadness and dread.
Overall, I found the book much more terrifying than the TV adaptation but enjoyed both.
Buy The Small Hand book on Amazon:
Watch it on Channel 5 catch up here:
Susan Hill’s Ghost Story
Do you like ghost stories? Did you watch Sysan Hill’s Ghost Story over Christmas or have you read any of her books?
Blimey, what a book! The Mothers front cover gives little away about the extraordinary journey readers are taken on over the course of this book. Part police investigation, part psychological mystery, part woman-affirming literature.
Five women united by their antenatal classes continue their unlikely friendship with regular meet ups to discuss the highs and lows of motherhood and marriage whilst also letting their hair down and relaxing. The morning after one such ‘Mother’s Club’ night out, Bella discovers her husband has disappeared and reports it to the police who suspect he has run away with one of the other mums that also can’t be found…
The plot narrative then splits between the lead police detective Iona and her investigation in the present day, and the five mothers in the past. This leads us to make guesses about what may have happened and develops our empathy with all of the women.
The women are portrayed as strong despite their vulnerabilities and problems, and female friendship is a key theme to the book. There were plenty of twists but the final couple of chapters were really good at tying up loose ends.
Iona is a likeable character and interesting lead detective. She is gay and fancies one of her colleagues which makes her behave erratically at times. I found her portrayal to be very realistic and human, and this divided my loyalties as the storylines of the five mothers were revealed and the investigation develops.
Author Sarah J. Naughton writes clearly and compassionately about her characters, making us feel an affinity with both the suspects and the police. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more from this author!
‘Gripping, tense, taut and brilliant. You’ll be begging your friends to read it so you can discuss it over and over again.’ Rebecca Reid, Grazia
The Mothers
from Costa short-listed author
Sarah J Naughton
Published as a paperback original by Trapeze, 9th January 2020, £7.99. Also available in eBook and audio.
Five women meet at their local antenatal group. The only thing they really have in common is that they are all pregnant and live within the Chelsea area. Beyond that they all lead very different lives.
Five secrets. Three years later, they are all good friends and often meet up as a group, nick named ‘The Mothers Club’. They get along well enough. Don’t they?
One missing husband. When Bella’s husband goes missing the same night as one of their mothers club get togethers, the police come knocking. Each of the women clearly have secrets they’d like to hide. But the trouble with secrets is that someone always tells…
Sarah J Naughton grew up in Dorset and is the bestselling author of The Other Couple and Tattletale. Her debut children’s thriller, The Hanged Man Rises was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Award. The Mothers is her third novel for adults. Sarah now lives with her family in Belgravia.
@sarahjnaughton
One of my favourite cakes before going vegan was a lemon cake with a sugar glaze crust. I saw it again in my recipe book and realised I hadn’t made it in over a year! I decided to tweak it to make it vegan and also include oranges as we had some looking forlorn in our fruit bowl.
Ingredients
Aquafaba from 1 400g tin of chickpeas
200g caster sugar
200g vegan spread or margarine
250g SR flour (mine was gluten free)
1 teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
Glaze
175g granulated white sugar
Juice of 1 lemon and half an orange
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a tin with baking paper.
Whisk together the aquafaba and caster sugar for 2 minutes until frothy.
Whisk in the spread and mix for another 2 minutes.
Fold in the flour and baking powder then add the zests and mix until fully combined.
Pour into tin and bake for 30-40 minutes.
To check if cooked, pop a cocktail stick or skewer into the middle and if any mix sticks then cover with foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes.
Remove from the oven but leave in the tin.
Mix together the granulated sugar and juices then pour onto the cake whilst still warm.
Leave to cool in the tin then slice and serve.
As I said at the beginning, I usually make this with 2 lemons: it could also be made with just oranges, or why not try limes?
To get the aquafaba, find a yummy chickpea recipe such as this dhal.
What a brilliant book! I loved this from start to finish. Alice Palmer meets the charismatic Dominic Gill when they get stuck in a lift together. Their relationship quickly develops and within months they are engaged then married.
Alice gets an uneasy feeling and her best friend Jojo is suspicious but Alice is determined to make her marriage work so she overlooks her concerns. On the night Alice announces her pregnancy, Dominic is killed in a car crash which leads to shocking revelations for Alice.
The narrative is structured as Alice’s viewpoint to begin with, and I was almost screaming with frustration as she lets Dominic trick her time and time again. Her emotional isolation following the death of her parents and the jilting by her past fiance make her susceptible to Dominic’s charms and leads her to excuse his behaviour.
Then we see her husband’s perspective and it is brilliant to see his version of events. His calculating behaviour and violent potential is cruelly fascinating to read. Using his viewpoint is exceedingly clever on the part of the author as we almost grow to like and respect Dominic and his ruthless endeavours
The plot is fast paced which represents the speed of the romance and deception. The tone is easy to read and the characters are captivating despite their obvious flaws. I was completely swept up in the story and characters the whole way through the book.
Absolutely brilliant! Check out my review of The Friendship Pact, also by Alison James.
ALISON JAMES Media Kit:
Title: The Man She Married
Publication Day: 13/01/2020
Author: Alison James
Buy Link:
Description:
How well do you know your husband?
When Alice Gill sees the little blue line, it’s the happiest moment of her life. But her whole world is turned upside down when the police knock at her door minutes later…
Her husband, Dominic, is dead.
Distraught, Alice goes to identify the body. It’s him. Yet when Dominic’s estranged brother comes to view the coffin, he insists the man lying there is not Dominic Gill.
So who is the man Alison married?
And will his secrets put her life in danger too?
An absolutely gripping psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the last page. If you love Behind Closed Doors, My Lovely Wife and Friend Request, you’ll be hooked on The Man She Married.
Author Bio:
Born in the Cotswolds, Alison spent most of her formative years abroad. She studied languages at Oxford, then became a journalist and author, returning to university after her two children to take a law degree. After a three-year stint as a criminal paralegal, Alison worked as a commercial copywriter and then a TV storyliner, before coming full circle to write fiction again.
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