loopyloulaura

Anne Marie is a single mum, desperately struggling to keep her job as a waitress while her 16 year old son Dave’s behaviour deteriorates. Finally his attitude improves but she is horrified to discover why…

The Waitress is a psychological and crime thriller mixed with family drama.

I was completely absorbed by this book from the start. The premise is gripping but the plot stretched my credulity to beyond breaking point. I wanted to shout at Anne Marie and tell her to be a parent rather than letting Dave dictate their relationship. It is a really clever concept as readers will be considering how they would react to those same circumstances and how far we would be willing to go for our children.

Dave is being blackmailed after committing a terrible crime. Anne Marie does a lot of soul searching as she tries to do the right thing. It is a great moral dilemma. However I saw no redeeming qualities in Dave at all and felt frustrated that she doesn’t force him to take responsibility. There are repeated negative references to Dave’s dad and I kept expecting him to appear but he didn’t.

The writing style is engaging but I didn’t find the characters and their actions very credible. There didn’t seem to be much emotion and I think I would have liked to see Dave’s perspective. I liked the twist at the end although I had wondered earlier if that might happen, then dismissed my thoughts when the blackmailer is revealed.

The Waitress is an absorbing and engaging book with a great premise; suspend your disbelief and enjoy!

Book Links

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202257841-the-waitress

Buy Link – https://mybook.to/thewaitress-zbt

Book Blurb

Secrets can be kept. If you’re willing to pay the price.

Anne Marie’s life isn’t easy. She’s a single mom in a dead-end waitressing job with a beater car and bills to pay. Adding to the pressure, her teenage son, Dave, is out of control, and no matter what she does, Anne Marie can’t seem to get through to him.

Then, out of the blue, Dave completely changes. He’s kind, he’s thoughtful, he helps out around the house and looks after his mom. Anne Marie can’t believe her luck.

Until she discovers the reason for her son’s sudden transformation – he’s done something really awful and he’s terrified he’ll be caught. Even worse, someone out there knows about it and they’re blackmailing him.

Anne Marie is desperate to protect her son and knows she has to somehow stop the blackmailer. But how?

As she considers her choices, Anne Marie realizes she may be taking the first steps on a path that will lead her straight to the gates of hell.

How far is she willing to go to save her only child?

Emily’s Bio

Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author but first served her time as a banker and a teacher. After a lifetime of devouring stacks of thrillers, she decided to try her hand at writing them herself. Now she gets to live out her dream of writing novels and sharing her stories with people around the world. She lives in the Appalachian Mountains and loves hiking with her husband, daughter, and their two dogs.

Emily’s Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoremilyshiner

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoremilyshiner/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authoreshiner

A young woman is found murdered in a farm silo while a policeman’s wife finds her ex husband’s body in her catering van. Could there be a connection between two deaths so closely discovered and can Jack Dawes exonerate his wife?

The Eden Park Killer is the 11th book in the DI Jack Dawes series but it is the first that I have read. There are mentions of events that I assume featured in earlier books but no spoilers.

Two murders, a crime baron and a big drugs deal. There is a lot for DI Dawes to unravel. His own wife Corrie is implicated in one of the murders so he is forced to focus on the other death despite being convinced that the two murders are linked. The rather hapless officer put in charge of the ex husband’s murder is adamant that Mrs Dawes is guilty. Meanwhile Mrs Dawes herself is investigating alongside her friends.

The case itself held my attention even though we discover connections and culprits quite early. My enjoyment was then focussed on seeing how Jack, his opponent Crump, and Corrie work independently to solve the crimes.

I really loved this book and I want to catch up on Jack’s previous cases. There is a wonderful tone to the book with a gentle humour that softens the crime element. Jack and Corrie have a brilliant relationship with each other but also with the other police officers and friends.

The Eden Park Killer is an entertaining and dynamic police procedural and I want the next book NOW!

THE EDEN PARK KILLER by Frances Lloyd

AN ENTHRALLING MURDER MYSTERY FULL OF SHOCKING TWISTS FROM A BESTSELLING AUTHOR.

Sometimes you can just murder your ex. But would you?

Corrie Dawes is exhausted after a long day catering for the wealthy residents of exclusive, gated Eden Park.

She pulls open the back of her delivery van and screams. Inside, a man’s body lays face down in a bowl of leftover trifle — with one of her vegetable knives lodged in his back.

She immediately calls her husband, Detective Jack Dawes. When he arrives they discover the victim is none other than Tom Broadbent, Corrie’s ex.

Corrie hasn’t seen or spoken to Tom in over twenty years. What is he doing in Kings Richington? And more importantly, how has he wound up dead in her van?

Jack’s been warned off the case, and the investigation is handed over to surly Detective Crumb. He’s convinced Corrie lured Tom to her van and killed him — and he’s determined to prove it.

It’s up to Corrie to clear her own name. Can she find the real killer? Or will she pay the price for someone else’s dirty work?

This entertaining and absorbing mystery is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, L.J. Ross, J.R. Ellis, Ian Moore, Catherine Moloney, Richard Osman or Faith Martin.

MEET THE DETECTIVE
Detective Inspector Jack Dawes, tall and handsome, looks like the fuzz even when he’s off-duty. He rose up through the ranks at Scotland Yard and now is a well-respected detective in the murder squad. A career copper, he was married to the job until he met Coriander during a money laundering investigation, the case which earned him his promotion to DI. He has logical analytical skills. She has intuitive people skills. So he bounces ideas off her. They make a formidable and funny couple whose skills combine to solve crimes.

FRANCES LLOYD

Frances Lloyd was born in Essex but now lives in the Scottish Highlands. She was educated in Cheltenham where she studied English and Classics.

Frances has always been a writer. The day job was in government communications. She has also worked as a freelance journalist and photographer, and began by writing short stories, but her ambition was always to write murder mysteries. She now writes full time and has published ten crime novels.

Married three times but now a widow, Frances’ hobbies are reading, travelling and wine tasting.

BOOKS BY FRANCES LLOYD

DETECTIVE INSPECTOR JACK DAWES MYSTERY SERIES:

• THE GREEK ISLAND KILLER

• THE BLUEBELL KILLER

• THE SHETLAND ISLAND KILLER

• THE GALLOWS GREEN KILLER

• THE MOON KILLER

• THE KINGS MARKET KILLER

• THE DEMON KILLER

• THE VALE VINEYARD KILLER

• THE BRIGHTSEA SPA KILLER

• THE KINGS CORPSE KILLER

• DETECTIVE JACK DAWES BOOKS 1-5 BOX SEThttps://geni.us/jack-dawes-6-10-fbt

• DETECTIVE JACK DAWES BOOKS 6-10 BOX SET

FOLLOW FRANCES ON

FACEBOOK
GOODREADS

Mr Cunliffe fears for his life so reluctantly contacts his old friend’s butler. Clifford couldn’t possibly abandon his post so Lady Eleanor Swift travels to Cornwall with him. The pair arrive to find the police have discovered a body…

Murder on the Cornish Cliffs is the 16th book to feature Lady Eleanor Swift and her incomparable butler Clifford.

Mr Cunliffe has very specific ideas about class and gender so it is almost unbearable for him to feel the need to ask for help from a butler, let alone a woman. Luckily, Clifford and Eleanor are able to overlook his prejudice and focus on the murder. Ellie is disappointed to be far from home and her fiance in the lead up to Christmas. But the murder provides an opportunity to call on Hugh for help.

The wit and humour between Ellie and Clifford continues to work well. There are a number of eccentric characters in this book and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to laugh with them or at them. I enjoyed the change in setting although I did miss the rest of Ellie’s staff who often play such a significant role. The mystery was sustained well and I was kept guessing until the reveal.

Murder on the Cornish Cliffs is an enjoyable addition to this cosy historical murder mystery series.

Book Description:

A festive invitation from an old family friend, the promise of gingerbread at the village inn, snowy walks on the Cornish coast with Gladstone the bulldog… But wait, is that a body on the beach?

Winter, 1923. It’s nearly Christmas and Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather strange letter from an old friend of her uncle. Mr Godfrey Cunliffe has asked her to stay in Cornwall for the holidays – but only because he believes his gardener is trying to poison him! With not a moment to waste Eleanor hurries down to his picturesque manor house with her butler Clifford and handsome beau Detective Hugh Seldon. But they arrive too late to stop the crime…

Lying dead at the bottom of the steep cliffs, however, is not Mr Cunliffe, but the gardener himself. And his plans for restoring the gardens to their former glory are missing. Jerome St Clair has gone from suspect to victim. This certainly puts a twist in the tinsel!

As snow begins to fall, Eleanor quizzes the family. Mr Cunliffe’s alibi is as fragile as the glass baubles hanging from his towering Christmas tree. Eleanor quickly realises everyone from the handyman to the housekeeper is keeping secrets, and she’s convinced that Mr Cunliffe is still scared for his life.

When Gladstone the bulldog pulls a charred corner of the missing garden plans from a fireplace festooned with a gold-ribboned garland, Eleanor thinks the clue she needs is hiding out in the grounds. But when someone tries to run her over with the huge lawnmower, she knows she must wrap up the mystery fast before her Christmas is cancelled for good…

Murder on the Cornish Cliffs is a fun, twisty and absolutely gripping historical English cozy mystery, perfect for fans of T.E. Kinsey, Catherine Coles and Agatha Christie.

Author Bio:

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CJ5MPVFJsocial

Audio:

UK: https://ow.ly/uvLR50QaY0H US: https://ow.ly/UcXU50QaY0F https://ow.ly/tWJM50QaY0I

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo