Review: THE GUEST LIST, Lucy Foley

• this edition published by Harper Collins UK 2020
• ISBN 978-0-00929717-6
• 374 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party.

The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner  – The bridesmaid – The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

My Take

This is the thing about organising a wedding. I can put together a perfect day, as long as the guests play along, remember to stay within certain bounds. But if they don't, the repercussions can last longer than twenty-four hours. No one is capable of controlling that sort of fallout.

Sometimes we don't realise just how close we are to people.
We move "in the same circles" but don't see it.
The six degrees of separation theory states that any inhabitant of the Earth could meet anyone in the world with a maximum of six or fewer mutual connections between them and another person. Be it through acquaintances, friends, or members of their family.

Ostensibly what connects these wedding guests in the main is that they, the males at least, went to the same school, or knew each other from university days. And, in a sense they have never grown up. Several refer to what happened to them at school as being like something from The Lord of the Flies.
The female guests that we meet are mainly attached to the males. But there are some horrific threads lurking in the background, not acknowledged, all linked to one person, the one who ends up dead.

From the middle of this story, thread by thread is revealed, but the most horrendous one, the one that finally ends in murder, does not come out until the last few pages.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
4.6, THE HUNTING PARTY

Review: BLACK SUMMER, M.W. Craven

• this edition published by Constable in 2019
• ISBN 9-781472-127471
• 392 pages
• #2 in Washington Poe series

Synopsis ( Fantastic Fiction)

Jared Keaton, chef to the stars. Charming. Charismatic. Psychopath . . . He's currently serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of his daughter, Elizabeth. Her body was never found and Keaton was convicted largely on the testimony of Detective Sergeant Washington Poe.

So when a young woman staggers into a remote police station with irrefutable evidence that she is Elizabeth Keaton, Poe finds himself on the wrong end of an investigation, one that could cost him much more than his career.

Helped by the only person he trusts, the brilliant but socially awkward Tilly Bradshaw, Poe races to answer the only question that matters: how can someone be both dead and alive at the same time?

And then Elizabeth goes missing again - and all paths of investigation lead back to Poe.

My take

I initially started reading this novel, and then after about 50 pages, realised that it was #2 in a series, and so located a copy of #1 (THE PUPPET SHOW). That meant that when I came back to reading BLACK SUMMER, I had already met the main characters and had some understanding of the relationship between them.

Jared Keaton has been in gaol for 7 years for the murder of his daughter.  The appearance of a young woman claiming to be Elizabeth Keaton means that his lawyers appeal for his release, particularly after a DNA test seems to confirm her identity.

The novel opens with two puzzles: the first page begins My body is eating itself. So the first puzzle is to identify this person. Chapter One ends with the arrest of Washington Poe on suspicion of murder. So there is the second puzzle to be solved.

This is one of those novels where the reader needs to take notice of the time frame given at the beginning of each chapter.

The novel brings together the team we met in THE PUPPET SHOW: Washington Poe, Tilly Bradshaw, DS Gamble, and DI Flynn. Poe is convinced that he did not get it wrong when he originally arrested Jared Keaton for murder, so there is a race against time to try to prove his case.

An excellent read.


My rating: 4.5

I've also read
4.5, THE PUPPET SHOW, M. W. Craven

Review: THE PUPPET SHOW, M.W. Craven

• this edition published by Constable, 2018
• ISBN 978-1-4721-2744-0
• 344 pages
• source: my local library
• series: Washington Poe #1

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District's prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues and the police are helpless. When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of . . .

Reluctantly partnered with the brilliant, but socially awkward, civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw, the mismatched pair uncover a trail that only he is meant to see. The elusive killer has a plan and for some reason Poe is part of it.

As the body count rises, Poe discovers he has far more invested in the case than he could have possibly imagined. And in a shocking finale that will shatter everything he's ever believed about himself, Poe will learn that there are things far worse than being burned alive ...

My Take

I always advocate that readers tackle a series in order of publication, but occasionally I don't obey my own rule.

I had in fact begun reading the sequel to this novel (which kept referring to events related to the Immolation Man) when I realised I needed to seek out and read this one.

Washington Poe, disgraced and demoted detective) and Tilly Bradshaw, mathematical genius, make an interesting investigative pair. Tilly loves data and can make it form patterns which no-one else can. She and Poe make a formidable pair, each appreciating what the other has to offer.

This case is one that the perpetrator intends Washington Poe will be the one to investigate. He wants Poe brought back from demotion, re-instated to help him wreak vengeance on a crime that is over a quarter of a century old. In desperation he carves Poe's name on the chest of one of the victims.

A good read.

My rating: 4.6

About the author
aka Mike Craven

Although he was born in Cumbria, Mike Craven grew up in the North East before running away to join the army when he turned sixteen. After training as an armourer for two and a half years, he spent the next ten travelling the world having fun. In 1995 he left the army and completed a degree in social work, with specialisms in criminology, psychology and substance misuse. In 1999 he joined Cumbria Probation Service as a probation officer, working his way up to chief officer grade. Sixteen years later, he took the plunge and accepted redundancy to concentrate on writing. He now has entirely different motivations for trying to get inside the minds of criminals.

Between leaving the army and securing his first publishing deal, Mike found time to keep a pet crocodile, breed snakes, survive cancer and get married. He lives in Carlisle with his wife, Joanne, and his springer spaniel, Bracken.

What I read in July 2020

An excellent reading month, with just a few less books, but some great reads

1. 4.6, SINS OF THE DEAD, Lin Anderson
2. 4.7, TIME FOR THE DEAD, Lin Anderson 
3. 4.4, THE CAKEMAKER'S WISH, Josephine Moon NOT crime fiction 
4. 4.5, DEAR CHILD, Romy Hausmann - translated 
5. 4.4, THE MEMORY WATCHER, Minka Kent
6. 4.4, HUNTING GAME, Helene Tursten - translated 
7. 4.5, WHO WE WERE, B. M. Carroll - Australian author 
8. 4.7, INHERITANCE OF SECRETS, Sonya Bates - Australian author 
9. 5.0, THE OTHER PASSENGER, Louise Candlish

Review: THE OTHER PASSENGER, Louise Candlish

• format Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 2869 KB
• Print Length: 296 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (June 25, 2020)
• Publication Date: June 25, 2020
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07YL9FYWZ
• Author website: http://www.louisecandlish.com/

Synopsis (Amazon)

It all happens so quickly. One day you're living the dream, commuting to work by riverbus with your charismatic neighbour Kit in the seat beside you. The next, Kit hasn't turned up for the boat and his wife Melia has reported him missing.

When you get off at your stop, the police are waiting. Another passenger saw you and Kit arguing on the boat home the night before and the police say that you had a reason to want him dead. You protest. You and Kit are friends - ask Melia, she'll vouch for you. And who exactly is this other passenger pointing the finger? What do they know about your lives?

No, whatever danger followed you home last night, you are innocent, totally innocent.

Aren't you?

My take

An engrossing read.

Jamie and Clare have been living together for 10 years in a large house that Clare's parents bought her. Clare works for a real estate agent and works with Melia who lives with Kit in a rental property a couple of streets away. Jamie, well past middle age, commutes into London to work in a cafe, after some sort of nervous collapse. He meets Kit on a riverbus going to work, and the older couple become friends with the younger one.

While Jamie and Clare live comfortably, Melia and Kit are heavily in debt, spending all that they earn and more, and Kit is openly envious.

Just before Christmas in 2019 the commuters meet with fellow travellers for Christmas drinks and Kit never returns home. Just after New Year two detectives come to the house to question Jamie, intimating that he is somehow connected to Kit's disappearance, that someone has seen something that implicates him. Jamie knows that he has nothing to fear but what has this other person reported.

Clare becomes suspicious of Kit and Melia and thinks they somehow they have been targeting Jamie.

If you think I seem to have told you a lot about the plot, never fear, there is much more, and some incredible plot twists that will leave you catching your breath.

I'll certainly be reading more by this author.

My rating: 5.0

About the author
Hello and welcome! I am a novelist based in London. OUR HOUSE, my #1 bestseller in the UK with over 200,000 copies sold to date, was my debut in the US. Soon to be published in multiple languages, it won the British Book Awards 2019 Book of the Year: Crime & Thriller and was shortlisted for the Capital Crime Amazon Publishing Best Crime Novel of the Year Award​ 2019 and the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2019. It was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2019 and the National Book Awards Crime & Thriller Book of the Year 2018. OUR HOUSE is now in development for a major TV series by Red Planet Pictures, makers of the international hit drama 'Death in Paradise'.

Sunday Times bestselling author ​Louise Candlish was born in Hexham, Northumberland, and grew up in the Midlands town of Northampton. She studied English at University College London and worked as an illustrated books editor and copywriter before writing fiction. She is the author of thirteen novels, including the thriller Our House, winner of the British Book Awards 2019 Crime & Thriller Book of the Year and shortlisted for several other awards. A #1 bestseller in paperback, ebook and audiobook, it is in development for a major TV series with Red Planet Pictures. Those People, a novel about the neighbours from hell, is out now in paperback in the UK and hardcover in the US and reached #2 on the Sunday Times bestseller list.

Louise lives in Herne Hill in South London with her husband, teenage daughter, cat, and puppy. Besides books, the things she likes best are: coffee; TV; salted caramel; France (especially the Ile de Re); Italy (especially Sicily); tennis; lasagne; heavy metal; 'The Archers'; driving towards the sea (but not into it); anything at the Royal Opera House; white wine; Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (or, failing that, a Starbar); and using parentheses. Her favourite book is Madame Bovary.

Review: INHERITANCE OF SECRETS, Sonya Bates

• read as an e-book through Libby, source: my local library
• Shortlisted in Harper Collins Australia Banjo Prize 2018 for an unpublished manuscript
• ISBN: 9781460757857
• ISBN 10: 1460757858
• On Sale: 20/04/2020
• Pages: 432 

Synopsis (publisher)

A brutal murder. A wartime promise. A quest for the truth.

Heather Morris meets Jane Harper in a gripping, page-turning mystery.

No matter how far you run, the past will always find you.

Juliet's elderly grandparents are killed in their Adelaide home. Who would commit such a heinous crime - and why? The only clue is her grandfather Karl's missing signet ring.

When Juliet's estranged sister, Lily, returns in fear for her life, Juliet suspects something far more sinister than a simple break-in gone wrong. Before Juliet can get any answers, Lily vanishes once more.

Juliet only knew Karl Weiss as a loving grandfather, a German soldier who emigrated to Australia to build a new life. What was he hiding that could have led to his murder? While attempting to find out, Juliet uncovers some disturbing secrets from WWII that will put both her and her sister's lives in danger ...

Gripping. Tense. Mysterious. Inheritance of Secrets links the crimes of the present to the secrets of the past and asks how far would you go to keep a promise?

My Take

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, partly because it is set in my home town, but also partly because I am so familiar with the historical events it is connected with. The end of World War II started a whole new chapter in Australian history, but our fascination with television programmes and films about the war clearly show us that it is still very much part of our psyche.

In the Acknowledgements and then the Reading Group Notes at the back of the book, the author gives us an insight into what led her to write this particular story. 

The author has done a particularly good job with the mysteries woven into the story, and there is that little frisson that we the readers know just a little more than Juliet the main character does.

Recommended.

My rating: 4.7

About the author
Sonya Bates is a Canadian writer who has made South Australia her home since 1997. She studied linguistics at the University of Victoria before obtaining a masters degree in speech-language pathology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. Having worked with children with communication difficulties for over twenty-five years, she now enjoys sharing her knowledge with speech pathology students as a part-time clinical educator. When her two daughters were young, she started writing for children and has published several children's books. Her debut adult novel, Inheritance of Secrets, was shortlisted as an unpublished manuscript in the inaugural Banjo Prize in 2018.

Review: WHO WE WERE, B.M. Carroll

• this edition published in Great Britain by Viper 2020
• ISBN 9-781788-164184
• 319 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Amazon)

A KILLER TWENTY-YEAR REUNION.
AND YOU'RE INVITED...

Twenty years after they went their separate ways, friends and enemies are coming together for their school reunion. Katy, who is desperate to show that she's no longer the shy wallflower. Annabel, who ruled the school until a spectacular fall from grace. Zach, popular and cruel, but who says he's a changed man. And Robbie, always the victim, who never stood a chance.

As the reunion nears, a terrible event that binds the group together will resurface. Because someone is still holding a grudge, and will stop at nothing to reveal their darkest secrets...

My Take

As Katy organises the 20 year re-union, members of the central group are targeted by someone who seems to hate them all. And it seems that possibly the person has been in their homes, stalking them, taking things, leaving messages. Very scary.

So the mystery part of it puts it squarely in the category of crime fiction.
Katy is organising the event and updating the year book that they all contributed to in 2000. She asks each of the people she contacts to update their details, and then "the stalker" begins to make their own malicious contributions, with details that makes them think it is one of their small group.

We see events through the eyes of a number of characters.
Very well written. Engrossing.

My Rating: 4.5


I have also read
4.5, THE MISSING PIECES OF SOPHIE McCARTHY