Minor celebrity Crystabel is hoping her wedding to Giles will boost her career. But they are not the loved up couple they appear. She started dated him on the rebound and is still in contact with her ex, while GIles is in love with one of her bridesmaids. The wedding definitely won’t go ahead once Giles is found stabbed to death with Crystabel standing over him with a bloody dagger…
A Marriage To Murder For is the third book in the Hopgood Hall cosy murder mystery series. I have previously read and reviewed the first two books: A Date To Die For and A Contest To Kill For.
Alexi’s foray into hotel management is still not very successful. She has encouraged her friends and business partners to host weddings but this new venture looks doomed to failure. Bridezilla Crystabel and her henpecked fiance Giles are their first clients and on the joint stag and hen night there are incidents aplenty. By the end of the evening Giles is dead and Crystabel is the chief suspect but Alexi and Jack’s observations may provide alternative suspects and motives.
Straightaway we are sympathetic to Giles as he is bossed around by his bride to be. This contrasts with Alexi and Jack’s relationship which is getting stronger. However, her newpaper editor ex Patrick is still hovering in the background especially once he sniffs out a story. Alexi and Jack want to resolve the murder quickly to protect the hotel so start their own investigation into the hen and stag guests. Once again there are touches on gentle humour and the inclusion of Cosmo the cat adds light relief to the grisly matter of murder.
A Marriage To Murder For is an enjoyable murder mystery.
A Marriage to Murder For
The high society wedding…
Social media influencer Crystabel Hughes is determined her wedding to Giles Preston Smythe will be the talk of the town. No matter the cost or the upset, nothing will stop this wedding!
A cheating groom…
But for Alexi Ellis and the rest of the staff at Hopgood Hall, Crystabel’s demands are becoming increasingly extreme. And when Alexi spots the groom getting up close and personal with one of the bridesmaids, she fears trouble is only a bouquet toss away.
A killer bride caught red-handed?
And Alexi’s fears are confirmed when the groom is found dead on the night before the wedding, stabbed through the heart – the person holding the dagger. his beloved bride-to be Crystabel.
Hopgood Hall doesn’t need any more bad press, but the race is on to find the killer and close the case before Crystable live streams her dilemma.
Can Alexi, Jack and Cosmo find out why Giles was killed? And, more importantly, can they stop the killer before they strike again?
Perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Frances Evesham and Emma Davies.
Author Bio –
Evie Hunter has written a great many successful regency romances as Wendy Soliman and is now redirecting her talents to produce dark gritty thrillers for Boldwood. For the past twenty years she has lived the life of a nomad, roaming the world on interesting forms of transport, but has now settled back in the UK.
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TRIGGER WARNING: miscarriage
Christa starts a new job as housekeeper and nanny for the Mayer family in Austria. But she finds the role bizarre as the child is 15 year old Wyatt, she is banned from visiting the village and the last nanny disappeared in mysterious circumstances and has never been found…
The New Nanny is a psychological thriller about an American family and nanny, set in Austria.
Robin Mayer is recovering from a miscarriage. Her husband is a workaholic. Their son barely acknowledges either of them. There is huge tension and emotion in the house and they hire Christa to cook, clean and care for them all. Their previous nanny vanished and the police have been unable to find a single trace of her. But Christa has been keeping secrets too and the author drops hints about her past.
Most of the book is written from Christa’s first person perspective. There is a claustrophobic feel to the book as the characters are mostly confined to the house. A few chapters are written from Robin’s viewpoint in the present or as journal entries from the past. Paul’s character is very minimally involved and I don’t feel we got to know him at all.
Christa does manage to make one friend from the village but she is keeping secrets from him and I had the feeling that all might not be what it seems with him either. There are some big twists (one of which is revealed in the blurb below so read at your peril!) and I saw them coming but that did not spoil my enjoyment of the plot developments.
The New Nanny is an entertaining and tense psychological thriller and the next book in ‘The Lies We Tell’ series is out now!
THE NEW NANNY (THE LIES WE TELL BOOK 1)
A forged reference and a fake social media page is all it takes to convince the Mayers I’m the perfect person to look after their son Wyatt. Some people would be scared to move to a remote mountain village with a family they’ve never met, but it’s exactly where I need to be. Because Wyatt is my child…
My sweet little boy was taken from me. There are dark secrets in my past that will stop me from ever getting Wyatt back, but now I’m his nanny, I’ll finally get to raise him like he’s my own.
When I arrive at the Mayers’ house, I’m stunned by the striking glass family home and Robin and Paul’s lavish lifestyle, which I couldn’t afford in my wildest dreams. But Wyatt seems troubled. Robin claims he needs therapy, she says he barely speaks to her, and soon I realise that he’s rarely allowed to leave the house…
When Wyatt gives me a shy smile and begins to open up, it’s clear he needed me just as much as I needed him. We’re making up for the time we lost with long afternoons playing games and baking apple pie.
Everything finally seems perfect in my life. Until I find out what happened to his last nanny…
An utterly heart-pounding and nail-biting read that will have you racing through the pages. Perfect for fans of The Marriage, The Housemaid and The Family Upstairs.
Buy link
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liz’s story began in a refugee camp in Angola, where she spent the first eight years of her life. After that, she spent some years in Namibia (her home country), South Africa, and Germany. She now lives in Vienna, Austria, with her husband and two children. Liz wrote her first full-length novel at eighteen and hid it in a box under her bed. Several others soon followed it. Her passion lies in writing edge-of-the-seat psychological thrillers that give readers the same rush they would get on a rollercoaster.
AUTHOR SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @LGDavisAuthor
Instagram: @lgdavisauthor
TikTok: @lgdavisbooks
Libby feels responsible after her guest criticises the Shakespeare production she is promoting. Her guest Constance is later found dead and the disgruntled actors are suspected…
Murder in Autumn is the 25th book in the Libby Sarjeant amateur sleuth series and I have not read anything by this author before. There are mentions about events and characters from previous books but no major spoilers about outcomes and culprits.
Libby is drawn into yet another murder investigation when her acquaintance Constance is found dead in the local woods. There had recently been some animosity between the pair due to Constance’s unkind words online but Libby wants to prove that her friends among the acting company are not guilty.
I really liked the police characters as they are not resentful or dismissive of Libby’s attempts to help the investigation. In return she respects them and keeps them up to date with her findings. This felt refreshing in comparison with other amateur sleuth books.
There are a lot of background characters so lots of suspects and witnesses. The narrative is dialogue driven which results in a rather slow pace as characters discuss their opinions and suspicions, potential motives and varying relationships. I felt overwhelmed by the number of poeple and struggled to follow the connections.
Constance is easy to dislike and Libby’s discoveries during her investigation make her even less appealing. I therefore didn’t mind or care who killed her as she was so thoroughly nasty.
Murder in Autumn is a perplexing murder mystery with an unpleasant victim and likeable sleuth.
Murder in Autumn
With Shakespeare on the stage, there’s danger waiting in the wings for super-sleuth Libby Sarjeant . . .
Libby Sarjeant is proudly hosting an original production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Oast Theatre, which features a daring twist on the classic play. But an old acquaintance of Libby’s – irascible director Constance Matthews – is outraged by the show, stirring strong feelings throughout Steeple Martin.
When a body is subsequently found in the woodlands of a grand estate, the community is shocked by the prospect of murder. But the case is far from straightforward, with dark secrets lurking beneath the surface.
With the help of friends and family, can amateur detective Libby – and her friend Fran – unravel a truly perplexing puzzle?
Author Bio – Lesley Cookman is a former actor, model and journalist. She lives on the Kent coast in south east England with her two cats and the occasional returning offspring. In her past, she has been Editor of such diverse publications as The Call Boy – official magazine of the British Music Hall Society – and Poultry Farmer’s Weekly. She has written for the stage, and her pantomimes were at one time performed all over the country – she even wrote a book on how to do it. Lesley writes the Libby Sarjeant Mystery series, of which there are currently 24 and three novellas and The Alexandrians, an Edwardian mystery series about a seaside concert party. She has four children, all musicians (one also a writer) and two grandchilden.
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My book club reviewed this the month before I joined so I decided to play catch up!
Kya Clark is abandoned by all those she loves. Her mother and siblings leave first then her father and friends. She leads a solitary life and is known derogatively as ‘the marsh girl’. Then, in 1969, she becomes the main suspect in a murder case and faces the death penalty…
Where the Crawdads Sing is a dual timeline novel set in America in the 1950s and 1960s as Kya grows from a girl to a woman, and then the murder investigation and trial in 1969 and 1970.
How much pain and despair can Kya cope with? I felt deeply for Kya during all parts of the book. She has been abandoned and betrayed by those she loves for her entire life. However, there are moments of hope and happiness to lighten the tone and soften the plot developments.
The descriptions are long and melodious. To be honest, I wasn’t convinced by the use of the word lagoon so many times in the opening chapter though! The voices put on by the narrator for different characters made me a little uncomfortable as they seemed to be stereotypical/caricatures of the Deep South accent which jarred slightly.
I felt a little disappointed by the ending a it did not live up to my expectations based on the earlier character arcs. I was convinced I had worked out the solution to the murder mystery and liked how I had thought the characters had finally rallied round Kya in her darkest hours. Unfortunately, the ending wasn’t what I expected so I was left saddened.
Where the Crawdads Sing is a beautifully written and emotional novel about love and loss.
Book blurb
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.
In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
Rylan was the last person to see Bess before she disappeared. The police are involved and fear for Bess’ safety. But Rylan can speak to ghosts and has had no sign of Bess from the other side so believes she is still alive. She tries to help the police to find the missing woman but they discover other bodies instead…
The Shadow Girls is the second book to feature ghost hunter Rylan. I have previously read and reviewed the first book in the series, The Spirit Girls.
I LOVE Rylan. The ghosts, the faith, and her caring personality all combine to make her a fab lead character. I was completely swept up in the plot from beginning to end and loved the twists (I guessed the big one, but it didn’t matter). There are engaging subplots as well which allows Rylan to help other spirits find peace.
Most of the book is written from Rylan’s first person perspective but other chapters show Ford, Bess and others. This builds tension as we try to make sense of the missing woman situation but also gives us a contrast to Rylan’s view. In particular, I like Ford’s attempts to stay objective and professional.
The plot is completely captivating and wonderfully delivered through the narrative structure. I enjoyed the first book but I LOVED this one! The ghosts, supernatural and religious elements are handled sensitively and I found myself believing in the authenticity of the characters and situations despite the fact it is fictional.
The Shadow Girls is a brilliant paranormal murder and crime mystery.
MEDIA PACK
Book: The Shadow Girls
Author: Dawn Merriman
Pub Day: Sept 6th 2023
About the Book:
I open my eyes. The room is dark and I can see no windows, only stairs leading up to a metal trapdoor. From the shadows, a figure emerges. A little girl with long, pale hair. She smiles at me. “Are you my new mommy?” she says.
A young woman is missing. And Rylan Flynn was the last person to see her alive.
Nobody has heard from Bess Freeman since Rylan saw her leaving a bar and walking into the night with a stranger. Normally quiet and shy, Bess would never skip out on her family and friends like this. The small town of Ashby is in shock.
While the police struggle to find leads, it’s immediately clear to Rylan that this is no ordinary abduction. Her ability to see ghosts reveals sinister clues on all sides.
In the basement of an abandoned church, Rylan finds the spirit of another young woman who may be a victim. And when the police uncover human remains beneath a barn, a male figure watches them closely, then disappears.
Ashby’s handsome head detective, Ford Pierce, is as reluctant as ever to involve Rylan in the case.
But when another woman’s body is discovered hidden in a derelict family home, it’s clear that Bess is in mortal danger. And her time is running out.
For years, a killer has been lurking in Ashby, driven by a darkness that is more than human.
Desperate to find Bess before another innocent life is lost, Rylan must work with Ford to unravel a dangerous web of lies. But is she drawing closer to the truth or walking into the killer’s trap?
A gripping paranormal thriller packed with dark secrets, danger and slow-burning romance that will keep you turning pages late into the night. Fans of Wendy Wang, Heather Graham and Dean Koontz will love The Shadow Girls.
Author Bio
Dawn Merriman writes creepy small town murder mysteries from her small farm in northeast Indiana where she lives with her husband and teenage children. You can often find her with muck boots on her feet and a story in her head. She enjoys animals, auctions, snorkeling and archaeology.
Dawn Merriman grew up a small town farm girl, on a small time pig farm in Indiana. She spent her young adulthood sitting on her bedroom floor scribbling stories in notebooks. She won the “Northeast Indiana Young Writers” award as a sophomore in high school.
After battling severe depression, she wrote her debut novel “How Murder Saved My Life” as therapy, mixing her love of murder mysteries and farming with climbing out of the darkness of illness.
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