The Silver Ladies are Tess and Orla, best friends who both want to lose some weight and find love.
This book was a real breath of fresh air and really made me question why there are not more books with mature characters: are we uncomfortable withh the idea of sex for the over 60s?
Tess and Orla join a slimming club and an online dating site with very mixed results! I have experience of the latter so could identify with their search for love and the unsuitable matches.
The relationship between Tess and Orla is fun and honest and their experiences are realistic which engages the reader. The two friends contrast with each other delightfully: Tess is serious and quite naive, eternally hopeful while Orla is more worldly wise, extroverted and confident.
There is also great sadness and emotion in the book. The women are both widows, plus Tess has an ex husband with a glamorous second wife. Tess has survived breast cancer and another character has a terminal stage diagnosis.
Tess is such a sympathetic character that the reader can’t help but root for her to find love and lose the weight so that she finds happiness. The ending is happy and hopeful!
I really really loved this book!
THE SILVER LADIES OF PENNY LANE By Dee MacDonald
Tess and Orla have been best friends throughout most of their adult lives. So when life gave them lemons and their loved ones let them down, they pooled their resources and bought a dressmakers shop on the corner of Penny Lane. And they’ve been doing just fine ever since.
But one day, while studying her tired eyes and shapeless figure in the mirror, sixty-two-year-old Tess realised that she doesn’t want her life to be just fine anymore. She wants it to be extraordinary. For as long as she can remember she’s put everyone else first. Now she wants to rediscover herself – and experience the kind of whirlwind adventure that will have the power make her smile when she’s confined to the armchair of a retirement home.
With the encouragement of fun-loving and quirky Orla, Tess joins an over-the-hill dating agency and the two friends book a singles cruise around the Mediterranean. And that’s when their adventure of a lifetime really begins…
A totally uplifting, heart-warming, hilarious page turner about embracing the moment, learning to love again and the joy of second chances. Perfect for fans of The Kicking the BucketList and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
About the author
Dee MacDonald wrote her very first book – at around seven years of age! This was a love story which she duly illustrated before sewing all the pages together up one side. Writing was what she ‘was good at’ in school and she won several essay competitions, but then life got in the way and she didn’t pick up a pen again until after retirement.
Dee left Scotland and headed for London at the beginning of the swinging sixties. After typing her way round the West End she became an air stewardess on long haul routes with BA (then BOAC) for eight years. After that she did market research at Heathrow for both the government statistics and for BA, she became a sales rep., and was the receptionist at the Thames Television Studios in Teddington when they had the franchise.
She then ran a small B&B for ten years in Cornwall, where she lives with her husband. Dee has one son and two grandsons who live locally.
Anna wakes at night to discover her daughter and husband missing. She believes they have both been taken but the police think her husband has snatched Josie. A text message seems to confirm this but Anna still isn’t convinced.
Nick’s drugged body is found and when he regains consciousness he is devastated to learn of their daughter’s disappearance.
The kidnappers demand money and Anna then Nick go on missions to deliver the ransom. Then Anna runs away…why? Nick then gets a text to say that Anna has snatched their daughter but he rejects it.
This book is told as the drama unfolds so is fast paced and the reader is left as confused as the characters. Can Anna and Nick trust each other? Which one of them is hiding a secret that has put their daughter in danger?
My overall impression of this book is positive but I admit to having very mixed feelings about the narrative structure. The drama and action throughout the plot is brilliant. The revelations will keep you guessing the whole way through.
However, I didn’t particularly like the way it jumped between Anna and Nick’s experiences. I felt the confusion was uncomfortable although this was obviously the style that the author had chosen and the evocation of emotions was that which Jake Cross wished to convey to his audience.
This is a purely personal opinion and the author is successful in conveying the characters’ range of emotional responses. I enjoyed the character of the lead police officer Miller and how she interacted with the main characters; in particular, her dialogue made her feel very real.
I look forward to reading more from Jake Cross in the future.
Author: Jake Cross
Book: The Family Lie
Publication Day: April 23rd 2019
Buy Link:
Description:
You whispered goodnight to your daughter. You didn’t know that would be your last goodbye.
You wake up in the middle of the night.
Your five-year-old daughter is gone.
Your husband is nowhere to be seen.
Your family think he took her.
The police believe he’s guilty.
But he wouldn’t do that, would he?
He’s a loving father. A loving husband. Isn’t he?
An addictive and completely gripping psychological thriller with a twist that will blow you away. Fans of The Girl on the Train,K.L. Slater and Shalini Boland won’t be able to put down this jaw-dropping novel.
Author Bio:
Jake has been making stuff up from a real early age. His parents never believed his silly lies when he was young, so he still has no idea why he thought he could invent a decent story as an adult. But he kept trying, and here we are. THE CHOICE is his first novel, the first of three thrillers to be published by Bookouture, and he hopes you like it. If you don’t, he at least hopes you don’t ask for a refund.
Author Social Media Links
Final Betrayal is the 6th book to feature Irish detective Lottie Parker, and it is the first that I have read.
Lottie’s team is in disarray due to a colleague’s death and another on maternity, and she may have a serial killer on her hands as well as a murderous half sister.
Two young women are found murdered days after a man (Conor) is released from prison who was convicted on the evidence of one of them. Soon, the other witness and her lover are murdered as well.
Lottie is forced to consider if Conor’s conviction was sound or if mistakes were made in the original investigation. Did the witnesses lie and why? Has Conor got his revenge or are other secrets ready to come to light?
Meanwhile, Lottie’s insane sister, Bernie, absconds from her medical facility. Lottie’s daughters are kidnapped but who has taken them, Bernie or Conor or someone else?
There is emotion in this book due to the relationship of Lottie with her children, a relationship that many working mums will understand. Lottie is also trying to develop a romantic relationship with Boyd but work gets in the way. Grief is a major theme in the book as Kirby struggles to deal with the death of his colleague and lover, while other characters cope with the murders of their loved ones.
Lottie is a really good lead character and I could identify with her dilemma of balancing her work and personal life. The book works well as a stand alone novel but I definitely want to catch up on the previous books.
This book literallly had me guessing until right at the end. Everyone seems to be hiding something and although we see things from other characters’ perspectives, it is impossible to work out the solution to the case until the author decides to enlighten us!
FINAL BETRAYAL by Patricia Gibney
‘She lifted the flap of the envelope and pulled out the single white page. As she opened it up she stared, open mouthed. Four words were typed on the page. I am watching you.’
When Amy Whyte and Penny Brogan leave a local nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and don’t arrive home, their families are beside themselves with worry. Conor Dowling has just been released from prison, a man full of hatred for Amy, the girl who put him behind bars in the first place.
The case is given to Detective Lottie Parker, when the girls’ blood-soaked bodies are found, days later, in a derelict squat. Chillingly, both girls are clutching silver coins in their hands – what message is this killer leaving behind? All the signs point to Conor but his alibi is water tight.
As Lottie examines Penny and Amy’s final days alive in a desperate search for clues, two more girls are found stabbed to death in a luxury apartment complex. Caught up in what is fast becoming her toughest case yet, Lottie is unaware that somebody is watching her every move.
Then Lottie’s two daughters, Katie and Chloe suddenly disappear from the town centre. Terrified that the killer has her girls, the stakes have never been higher for Lottie.
But as Lottie puts everything on the line to find her daughters and solve the case, she’s about to find herself in terrible danger – someone has a personal axe to grind with her and they know the best way to get to her is to hurt the ones she loves the most.
If you love Karin Slaughter, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Abbott, you’ll be hooked by this heart-stopping thriller from Patricia Gibney. Final Betrayal will keep you guessing until the very last page.
About the author:
Patricia lives in the midlands of Ireland. She is an avid crime reader so naturally she found herself writing in the crime genre. To date, (July 2018) Patricia has sold over ONE MILLION COPIES in the LOTTIE PARKER series.
A life changing experience in 2009, with the death of her 49 year old husband, meant she had to give up her career, and over the following few years, she rekindled her love of art and writing.
Initially Patricia wrote and illustrated a children’s book, but her real ambition was to write a novel. And she did!
In January 2016, she joined with Ger Nichol of The Book Bureau Literary Agency. In July 2016, Patricia signed with Bookouture for four DI Lottie Parker crime novels.
The Missing Ones (Book 1 to feature Lottie Parker) published in March 2017 and to date has reached a high of number 2 in Amazon UK Kindle charts and number 6 in the US. It also achieved number 1 in all its categories. It is a bestseller in UK, US, Canada and Australia.
Animal safety, species preservation and the protection of the planet are high on my agenda thanks to my veganism, and I have been looking for ways to raise my children’s awareness whilst still being age appropriate.
Tigeropolis- Caught In The Trap is the third book by R.D. Dikstra to be set in the fictional nature park in India. The tigers find themselves hunted by poachers who only regard the beautiful creatures as an opportunity to gain money for their skins.
Luckily, these are no ordinary tigers. They can fly planes. They can talk and plan with other animals to thwart the evil poachers.
The hapless humans are a fun element to the book. Both the park keepers and the poachers are no match for the clever tigers and the unity of the animals is in contrast to the selfishness of the human characters.
There is a real sense of adventure and danger whilst making a serious point about the risks to endangered species due to human greed.
The illustrations really bring the text to life and the young tigers are super cute! I would even say that the pictures give a warmth to the book as some of the scenarios could be a little frightening for younger readers. The friendly looking tigers will be easy for the children to relate to and make their circumstances more dramatic.
The books are aimed at age 7 plus so are perfect for Matthew to read alone and for me to read aloud to Anya. The text is easy to read and engaging.
Book blurb/press release:
Tigeropolis, a vast tiger reserve in the foothills of the Himalayas, is home to a family of vegetarian tigers – tiger cubs Bittu, older sister Matti, their mother Tala and Uncle Raj. For years, they’ve hidden from humans deep in the forest, adopting a modern lifestyle (they don’t hunt, they don’t roar and they live in a snug cave complete with a TV and Internet access!)
Their pleasant lifestyle is interrupted when they are forced to reappear. Tigeropolis is threatened with closure – people have stopped coming – they don’t believe there are any tigers left to see. The tigers know they need to reappear to encourage visitors to the park. Visitors will generate income and help keep the park (their home) open. But the humans ‘running’ the park prefer sitting in their guard-house drinking tea and eating chocolate cake. The tigers take it upon themselves to run
the park, all the while ensuring that the humans never realise who is actually ‘pulling the strings’.
Caught in the Trap is the third in the series, but each book can be read as a stand-alone story.
About the Author
Richard Dikstra is passionate about travel and wildlife having visited all seven continents and some 40-plus countries. His interest in wildlife started on a week-long trip on a cabin cruiser in Alaska’s Inside Passage surrounded by humpback and orca whales. Since that first trip he has, amongst other things, trekked in China in search of pandas, sat with mountain gorillas, camped out in the Canadian tundra watching polar bears, helped save a wounded water buffalo in Swaziland and visited nomadic reindeer herders in Russian’s Chukotka Peninsula.
A keen traveller and wildlife enthusiast, he helped found pioneering travel company Discovery Initiatives, and since 2000 he has been a shareholder and Non-Executive Director of specialist travel operator Steppes Group. In 2010 he produced the First TOFT Tiger Tourism Awards in Delhi – the event is now an established feature in the tiger conservation calendar – and a year later, in 2011, Richard helped set up citizen science site ‘Tiger Nation’.
He wrote the first Tigeropolis book in 2015, inspired by his first ever sighting of a tiger in the wild. The second book was published the following year. The audio book of Tigeropolis is narrated by Richard E Grant and Belle Media produced a tie-in Tigeropolis video game, available on Apple TV and iTunes. Richard also found time to write a lively comic strip series for Hull City football club (‘Tigers’), based on his Tigeropolis characters.
Social media links
Originally published in 1996, this book is a reminder of what life was like before technology and social media: cameras with film in, use of the postal service and the press to disseminate information.
To be honest, it took me a while to get into this book. It is the second to feature DI Mike Croft so I am unsure if the first book covers the crime which is the basis for this book or not.
The Secrets starts with the kidnap and murder of a teenage boy but the police aspect of the book focuses on a solved crime that is being reviewed. I felt that the links between the two and with the characters being introduced was a little confusing.
Then I spotted that the man disposing of the boy’s body was the police chief! Suddenly the pieces started to fall into place and we as readers find out more about the cold case and how it relates to the present day events.
I was hooked.
There was a sense of anticipation as I waited for events to unfold and the corruption to be uncovered.
There were particularly unpleasant revelations about sexual abuse which, although not graphic, were uncomfortable to read. The believability of the book and characters fed into this sense of reality and made me feel deeply for the person revealing such trauma.
I liked the relationship between the main investigating officers Croft and Price. The latter is young and cocky whilst Croft is experienced. We also see more of Croft’s personal life which serves to keep him human whilst he attempts to remain detached due to the emotional nature of the case.
The Secrets (Detective Mike Croft #2) by Jane Adams
DISCOVER A CRIME THRILLER THAT WILL KEEP YOU HOLDING YOUR BREATH UNTIL THE VERY LAST PAGE
Please note this book was first published as “Cast The First Stone.”
WHAT DOES HE KNOW?
Threatening phone calls, smashed windows, physical intimidation. Eric Pearson and his family have only just moved into a new home in a sleepy cul-de-sac, but they already have dangerous enemies. How could a respectable family become the focus of such hatred?
Detective Inspector Mike Croft knows the Pearson family well. Eric Pearson claims to own a journal which gives evidence of a horrifying ring of abusers. If true, it would be a high stakes case for DI Croft, and expose awful secrets that the town has buried deep.
But no one wants to believe the dark conspiracies of this friendless and bitter man.
Then a body is found on the edge of Bright’s Wood, wrapped in a black bag.
DI Croft must confront evil which threatens to rip apart everyone in the community.
EVERYONE HAS SECRETS. BUT SOME ARE SO DARK THAT PEOPLE WILL KILL TO KEEP THEM.
Praise for JANE ADAMS, author of the sensational best seller THE GREENWAY.
“Few debut novels achieve this level of suspense. The Greenway lingered in my mind for days. It takes the psychological suspense novel into new realms of mystery.” Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News
“A haunting debut.” Minette Walters
“Compellingly told and rich with psychological insight.” Independent
“Nail-biting stuff.” Ms London
“An assured first novel, with a strong cast and a plot which twists and turns without a glitch.” Yorkshire Evening Post
“Adams has a distinctive voice, which I predict will be heard by the majority of mystery fans.”
DETECTIVE MIKE CROFT SERIES
Book 1: The Greenway
Book 2: The Secrets
Jane Adams Author Bio
Why do I write?
Like most writers, it’s a kind of compulsion. The stories are there and I have to try and grab hold of them and pin them onto the page. Most of the time, I enjoy the process; sometimes, I’d rather be doing just about anything else, up to and including the ironing – and I hate ironing.
I started writing when my youngest child went to school. I was incredibly lucky and my first novel, The Greenway, was picked up by Macmillan in 1994 and published in 1995.
I currently write two series; Naomi Blake and Rina Martin. Rina was a character I’d had in mind for years before committing her to paper. An elderly, ex thespian who had played the part of a popular TV detective, she had retired to the seaside and bought a boarding house for other ex performers. Rina’s feisty, no nonsense character is, I suppose, based on the rather powerful and opinionated ladies I grew up surrounded by – mother, teachers in the all girls school I attended, aunts and pseudo aunts, all of whom had opinions about everything and made sure these were unstintingly shared.
Naomi Blake, on the other hand, was the brainchild of my late agent, Bob Tanner at International Scripts. ‘You should write a blind detective,’ he said ‘ and she needs a big, black guidedog, called Napoleon’.
I thought it was a daft idea, and told him so. I just couldn’t see how to do it. But, like a lot of seemingly daft ideas, this one wormed its way into my brain and I realised he was right. It could work and so, the Naomi Blake series came into being.
I have always written in other genres too, short stories in the SF, Fantasy and Gothic Horror genre, and am working on longer projects when time allows. I also teach Creative Writing and have had the great privilege of being a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at three different universities.
