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A gorgeous island off the English coast, a beautiful hotel perched on the cliffs, a group of glamourous friends… and a suspicious death? Kitty Underhay’s invitation didn’t mention murder!
Evil on the Island, by Stewart Giles
A sixteen year old announces in class that his mother has killed his father and police arrive at the family home to find Arnold Green dead and his wife missing…
Evil on the Island is the 12th book in the DI Liam O’Reilly series set on Guernsey. There are no spoilers about previous cases but Liam’s personal life and professional relationships have developed over the series.
Liam thinks his latest case is quite straight forward and the victim’s family are responsible for his murder. But this explanation is called into question when another murder is discovered and there surely must be a link…? I thought there were plenty of characters acting suspiciously and trusted no-one!
In his personal life, Liam is still recovering from his motorbike injury, his fiancee Victoria is coping with her cancer diagnosis, his cats are causing havoc with his neighbour and his daughter is making big decisions about her future. There is a lot going on as well as the murders!
The pace is relentlessly fast with twists, murders, and clues piling on top of each other. The chapters are short which are quick to read. Once again in this series, the plot is dialogue led which increases the pace even further. I was kept guessing until the end but I did feel that the conclusion was a little rushed even by this author’s standards!
Evil on the Island is an entertaining police procedural and crime thriller.
Evil on the Island (DI Liam O’Reilly mysteries Book 12)
‘I know about evil, because my mum is evil. She killed my dad. My mother murdered my father, and left him where she knew I would find him.’
A class discussion in a prestigious school on the peaceful island of Guernsey takes a sinister turn when the body of the father of one of the students is found, exactly where the boy said he would be.
The 16 year old has no further information to offer the Island Police, and his mother has disappeared off the face of the earth.
Detective Inspector Liam O’Reilly has no idea where to look. The boy’s father was stabbed multiple times, but there is nothing at the scene to suggest why this man was killed in such a horrific manner.
Then another man is found dead.
But when a third suffers the same fate soon afterwards, O’Reilly knows that he’s up against something darker than his mind could ever comprehend.
There’s something evil on the island, and O’Reilly has no idea how to stop it.
What readers are saying about EVIL ON THE ISLAND:
An ingenious plot and one where I couldn’t work out as to whom the perpetrator was until it was revealed. A thoroughly entertaining gripping read. Hurry up with the next one! – Misfits Farm
Love the characters, a big plus for me. Liam has an up and down relationship with his cats but it might be on an even keel at present and his daughter’s partner DC Andy Stone has flashes where Liam can tolerate him. So quite a bit of humour throughout. A most enjoyable read. – Maureen
Another brilliant read that I was unable to put down. Intrigue and suspense all the way through, absolutely brilliant. – Amazon Reviewer
Stewart Giles – Author Bio
After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.
In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.
3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.
The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.
I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.
After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.
Website: www.stewartgiles.com
Twitter: @stewartgiles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33
A Gift From The Cottage By The Loch, by Kennedy Kerr
Bel is made redundant and when she arrives back home she finds her partner with another woman. She leaves immediately with no plan except to head for her sister in Scotland…
A Gift From The Cottage By The Loch is the fourth book in the Loch Cameron series (I have previusly read and reviewed the third book, The Diary from the Cottage by the Loch).
Bel’s day goes from bad to worse. But on reflection, she realises that she didn’t like her job or her boyfriend anyway! Loch Cameron provides a tranquil background to heal her heart and consider the future. She has lost sight of herself, her dreams and ambitions. I felt sorry for her but also thought she was making excuses by blaming others for her lack of strength.
The book is full of warmth despite the big issues of infidelity and unemployment. Bel’s sister Sally and her wife Bess were my favourite characters, full of love for each other but always willing to help out and care for others. There is an instant and obvious chemistry with gardener and biker Christian. I enjoyed their first meeting and how it set up the antagonism and humour that then continues to define their friendship with the possibility of romance.
A Gift From The Cottage By The Loch is a warm and sweet book about fresh starts and self discovery.
MEDIA PACK
Book: A Gift from the Cottage by the Loch
Author: Kennedy Kerr
Pub Day: Feb 28th 2024
Buy Link(s):
https://geni.us/B0CP3YPYLFsocial
About the Book:
Turning to face the glittering loch, Bel clasps the worn notepaper tightly in her hand. Will these hastily scrawled words, written decades ago, destroy the new life in the Highlands she’s risked her heart for?
When Bel Tipton catches her husband cheating on her, the devastating betrayal sends her running to her sister Sally in the beautiful village of Loch Cameron. Bel needs Sally’s warm laugh and sage advice now more than ever, and she knows curling up with her on the sofa and gossiping late into the night will make her feel whole again.
Bel did not expect her rented cottage overlooking the loch to come with handsome gardener Christian McDougal,and she’s determined to be unmoved by his flirty smile and broad shoulders. The last thing she needs is another man she can’t trust. But when Bel sees an empty storefront on the high street for rent, it’s Christian who notices how her eyes light up. He encourages her to set up a business in the village and she realises he’s everything her ex was not.
Then Bel hears a rumour in town that Christian is not all he seems. And, clearing out her store, she finds a collection of letters tied with a worn blue ribbon stashed on a high shelf in the back room. The letters reveal a devastating secret that shook the village generations ago, and Christian’s family are at the heart of it…
Will trusting Christian with her already fragile heart mean Bel loses everything once again? Or is Christian and the village of Loch Cameron the gift she needs to turn her life around?
Fans of Susanne O’Leary, Debbie Macomber and Pamela Kelley will be utterly swept away by this gripping page-turner about family secrets from USA Today bestseller Kennedy Kerr.
Author Bio
Kennedy Kerr is a USA Today Bestselling fiction author. She adores beaches, lochs and stone circles, and loves writing about small communities, mysteries and family secrets. She has a very cuddly cat called Twinkle who spends her days sleeping: Kennedy aspires to having Twinkle’s nap schedule one day.
Kennedy also loves cooking and baking all types of food, which is almost as much fun as eating it. Her favourite foods include (but are not limited to) Indian food, Victoria sponge, breakfast pastries with coffee and sushi. The only thing she’s not particularly keen on is artichoke, and she’d eat it, anyway.
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The Last Day In Paris, by Suzanne Kelman
TRIGGER WARNING: Nazi ideology and anti-semitism
Paris during WW2, Brigitte and her daughter Sophie are Jews living in terror as the Nazis invade their beautiful city. Present day, Sophie has Alzheimer’s and her daughter Esther is notified when a discovery is made in a Parisian apartment…
The Last Day In Paris is a dual timeline novel set during WW2 and in the present day.
Esther is struggling as a single parent in the present day while her mum has dementia. Unexpectedly she receives a phone call from an art dealer in Pairs who claims to have found something that Esther needs to see urgently. A painting and letter have been found hidden by Esther’s grandmother Brigitte during WW2 as she tried to protect her husband’s artistic legacy.
The book is written from multiple perspectives to show a variety of characters and experiences. The bravery of individuals in the face of the horror of Nazi brutality is inspiring. Danger is never far away in the past timeline but hope continues to glimmer in the darkness as love stays constant. It is the emotional details that really stay with you after completing the book. Esther may not have been traumatised in the same way as her mother and grandmother but holding a family together after divorce is also powerful emotionally.
The historical and geographical details brings the plot and characters to life, and has clearly been well researcged. This is the first book in a new series so there are some plot strands that are not concluded in preparation for the future novels.
The Last Day In Paris is an engaging and vividly descriptive dual timeline book.
Book Description:
“No, Mama, please don’t make me leave!” Sophie cries, clutching her teddy bear as her blue eyes fill with tears. “I’d rather be here in Paris with you, than far away somewhere safe…”
Paris, 1940: All over Paris, families are being pulled from their beds in the middle of the night. And ever since her husband was shot in cold blood, Brigitte Goldstein has known she is running out of time. She and her daughter Sophie are Jewish, so it won’t be long until the Nazis bang on their door.
But before she leaves, Brigitte must find her beloved husband’s painting, which was seized by the Nazis. She desperately hopes that if she saves it from destruction, then a piece of him will live on forever. And perhaps one day her daughter will uncover her father’s legacy, and the secret hidden inside…
Working in a museum under a false identity is Brigitte’s only hope. Until she meets Isabelle Valette, who confides in hushed tones that she is part of the Resistance. And when her new friend tells her of a train leaving Paris that can take children to safety, Brigitte knows her daughter must be on it, even if it breaks her heart.
But getting Sophie onto the train is dangerous. If they are caught smuggling a Jewish child out of Paris, they will be killed. And with the enemy closing in, can Brigitte get her beloved daughter to safety before it is too late?
The first utterly gripping novel in the Paris Sisters series, this is the story of two brave women and a secret that will tie them together forever, as the Second World War rages around them. Perfect for fans of Roberta Kagan, Kristin Hannah, and Fiona Valpy.
Author Bio:
Suzanne Kelman is a 2015 Academy of Motion Pictures Nicholl Finalist, Multi-Award-Winning Screenwriter and a Film Producer. As well as working in film she is also an International Amazon Bestselling Fiction Author of the Southlea Bay Series – The Rejected Writers’ Book Club, Rejected Writers Take the Stage and The Rejected Writers’ Christmas Wedding. Born in the United Kingdom, she now resides in Washington State.
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