Secrets in the Little Irish Village by Michelle Vernal (The Little Irish Village #4)

Grace Kelly can’t escape the draws of Emerald Bay; the sweeping cliffs, the sparkling sea… and her gorgeous new flatmate. The problem is, she has to keep him a secret from her family. And she isn’t the only one in the village with something to hide this summer…

Grace really needs someone to help cover the rent for her London flat, but Christopher Dorrance? Everyone in the little Irish village of Emerald Bay knows about the feud between their families, though no one knows how it started. But, both being in a tight spot, they try and make it work, swearing to tell no one back home. Until a mutual friend and her son in the bay are left homeless after a storm. Grace and Christopher must head back to Ireland to help… together.
As they flesh out their idea to raise money for their friend with a village charity concert, Chris’s blue eyes light up. Even though they have to hide out for every planning session, and after all her father has said about the Dorrances, Grace can’t believe how kind he is. Soon sparks are flying as they laugh together, chasing dairy cows from a field to set up the stage. Could Chris be more than just a flatmate?
But their hopes that a good cause will soften the hostility between their dads are dashed. The two men still argue constantly. And with a happy future for their friend depending on the concert running smoothly, the truth behind the feud threatens to come out and destroy everything…

Could the events of the past destroy any chance of a future for Chris and Grace? Or, if Grace follows her heart, could she finally heal the rift between their families?

Buy link: https://geni.us/B0CVYKMMM9social

My Review:
This is the second book I read in the Little Irish Village series and it was the right book at the right moment.
I needed some escapism, a good and honest enemy to lover story, and a lovely setting. There’s also a very funny pet but you have to read this book to know more.
I had fun, rooted for the characters, and had some good time in reading this heartwamring and cute story.
Even if it’s the 4th book in the series it can be read as a standalone but, beware, this series can be addictive.
4.5 upped to 5
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Michelle Vernal is a New Zealand author who writes stories that will take you onto the page with her characters and make you feel part of their lives. She writes with humour and warmth, and her readers describe her books as unputdownable, feel good and funny. Her writing has been likened to Maeve Binchy but with a modern-day vernacular. In 2015 she was shortlisted for the Love Stories Award. In 2020 she won the Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal Award for Chick lit, and in 2021 was shortlisted for the Page Turner Book Awards.

Author social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichelleVernal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellevernalnovelist/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellevernalnovelist
Website: https://www.michellevernalbooks.com/
Newsletter sign up: https://www.bookouture.com/michelle-vernal

Escape: The Hunter Cut by L.A. Davenport

Why am I still alive?

That is the question John, a trauma doctor, asks himself over and over as he mourns the death of his wife. Lost and alone, he wanders the streets of a glamorous Mediterranean resort trying to escape the pain.
He drifts from bar to bar until he meets Jasna, a captivating hostess. She teases him out of his suffering and, against their better judgement, they fall in love.
Then tragedy strikes, and John is pitched into a ruthless world of drugs, prostitution and murder, where life is cheap and nothing is as it seems.

In this all-new edition, Escape: The Hunter Cut takes the classic tale of L.A. Davenport’s debut novel Escape and retells it through John’s eyes, as he battles with himself and the events that threaten to overwhelm him.

Book page: https://p-wavepress.co.uk/fiction/escape-the-hunter-cut/

My Review:
It’s the first book I read by L.A. Davenport and the blurb attracted me as there’s was elements of thriller, spy story and the story of a man facing loss and mourning his wife.
It’s a slow burning story that takes some times to introduce us to John, his world and how he’s sinking having his action driven by sorrow.
The moment the action starts it’s an adrenaline fuelled story that keeps you on the edge and turning pages.
Jana is the enigmatic and unreliable character that makes John fell in love. She’s described with light touch and is never judged.
The gritty and twisty story is intriguing and I appreciated the storytelling and the character development.
I appreciated the travel into John’s mind and his path to move on and win his battle.
Recommended.
Many thanks to L.A. Davenport and Heather Fitt for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.

The Author:
L.A. Davenport is an Anglo-Irish author and journalist based in Stamford, Lincolnshire. He has been writing stories and more since he was a wee bairn, as his grandpa used to say.
Among other things, he likes long walks, typewriters and big cups of tea.
He has written the novels Escape, The Hunter Cut, The Nucleus of Reality, or the Recollections of Thomas P–, and Escape; the collections Pushing the Wave 2017–2022, No Way Home, Dear Lucifer and Other Stories and The Marching Band Emporium; and the memoirs My Life as a Dog and More Life as a Dog.

To learn more about L.A. Davenport and his writing, visit Pushing the Wave.

Mystery on Meadowsweet Grove by Clare Chase (An Eve Mallow Mystery #12)

Saxford St Peter is having an open gardens day! But one of the villagers has murder, not marigolds, in mind… And now Eve Mallow needs to unearth a killer.

Everyone in Saxford is delighted when jeweller Cleo Marbeck suggests a prize for the village’s best garden. Flowers are planted, grass is cut, and the competition is on. But the event only digs up dirt… Twenty-five years ago, a young woman fell to her death in Cleo’s house, and rumours soon resurface about Cleo’s part in the tragedy.
Eve’s best friend Viv is hosting Stevie, her son’s fiancée, ahead of the wedding. On the open garden day, Stevie has a horrible flashback: the memory of a woman lying at the bottom of a staircase. But she sees it in a totally different house from the one where Honor died…
Hours later Cleo’s body is found, drowned in her own pond. Almost everyone in Saxford has been in and out of her garden, sowing suspicion everywhere. But Eve is convinced the flashback has triggered the crime… and when the police turn their sights on Stevie, she’ll have to work fast to solve the case and save the wedding.
So who wanted Cleo in the ground? The son of the woman who died, out for revenge? The employee passed over for promotion? Her long-term lover, who she refused to marry? And why do so many suspects live on Meadowsweet Grove?
When someone else takes a tumble downstairs, Eve knows she’s close to grubbing up the truth. But can she catch the killer or is she heading for a fatal fall?

My Review:
There’s always something new and exciting, like a character, a happy event, or something in Eve’s life.
This is one of my favorite aspects, as each book is better than the previous and very entertaining.
The start of this book add something my bucket list, as I love gardening and view an open garden day in an English village as paradise on Earth.
It would be better if no-one is murdered but, as this is a mystery, it’s part of the game and finding the culprit is what you expect.
Eve will investigate, write an obituary, and the balance of the universe will be reestablished at the end of the story.
Another whodunit with plenty of secrets, twists, red herrings, and a very satisfying solution.. Another novel by Ms Chase that kept me reading till late in the night.
Read it and have fun.
Many thanks to Bookouture for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Buy Link(s): https://geni.us/B0CM6ZN66Lsocial

Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. Her aim is to take readers away from it all via some armchair sleuthing in atmospheric locations.
Her debut novel was shortlisted for Novelicious’s Undiscovered Award, as well as an EPIC award post-publication, and was chosen as a Debut of the Month by LoveReading. Murder on the Marshes (Tara Thorpe 1) was shortlisted for an International Thriller Writers award.
Like her heroines, Clare is fascinated by people and what makes them tick. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in settings as diverse as Littlehey Prison and the University of Cambridge, in her home city. She’s lived everywhere from the house of a lord to a slug-infested flat and finds the mid-terrace she currently occupies a good happy medium.
As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.
You can find Clare’s website and blog at http://www.clarechase.com

Social Media
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THE CHALK MAN by Adam Lyndon (Detective Rutherford Barnes Mysteries #4)

Winter sunrise over stream on the Lincolnshire Wolds

MEET DETECTIVE RUTHERFORD BARNES IN THIS BRILLIANT BRITISH CRIME SERIES FROM A SERVING POLICE OFFICER, PACKED FULL OF TWISTS.

Barnes finally has the family he always longed for. But someone is coming for them . . .

Detective Barnes crouches down by the body near the seafront. Male, mid-twenties. The face is blue-white, mouth stretched open in a silent yawn.
Suddenly his eye is caught by an abrupt movement. A woman has fallen over on the pavement opposite. ‘Looks like someone’s feeling crook,’ says Howlett, his detective constable.
Then Barnes sees another person collapse nearby. A young man, fit. He hasn’t tripped. His body starts to convulse on the ground.
As panic spreads through the crowd, Barnes’s mobile rings. It’s Tamsin, his normally unflappable partner.

‘Barnes . . .’ She sounds frantic. ‘It’s . . . it’s Maggie.’
Barnes goes cold. ‘What about her?’
‘She was supposed to be at rugby practice. But she never showed up. She’s . . . she’s missing.’
His stepdaughter is missing — and Barnes has a very bad feeling about who might be responsible . . .

Perfect for fans of Joy Ellis, Helen H. Durrant, Peter James, Angela Marsons, Rachel McLean, J.D. Kirk or J.M. Dalgliesh.

THE DETECTIVE
DI Rutherford Barnes is no longer the ambitious, idealistic young police constable he was when he joined the force. Ten years with the police has left him world-weary and a touch cynical. He’s a dedicated police officer, although he’s made mistakes, ruffled too many feathers during the course of his career — and is no longer on the fast track to promotion. No one has ever been brought to justice for the murder of his wife, and it remains a constant running sore.

THE SETTING
Set against the picturesque landscape of the South Downs, the Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne is packed with tourists during the summer — but it can seem pretty dismal during the winter months. Only fifty-odd miles from London, the town is not immune to the violence which occasionally spills over from the city. Pockets of deprivation and criminality exist alongside reminders of Eastbourne’s more genteel past in the grand Victorian hotels that line the seafront, the pier and the bandstand. The town also boasts one of Britain’s best-known — and most infamous — beauty spots, Beachy Head.

My Review
Sometimes you request an ARC because you like the author or are attracted by the cover. Other times, it’s a gut feeling that tells you you’re going to love the book, and this is what happened with this book.
It features a gripping, tightly-knit, and twisty plot that kept me on the edge of my seat, guessing throughout.
It was an entertaining and well-plotted read, and I was glad to catch up with the characters. I rooted for Rutherford and his family. The twists always surprised me, and I was satisfied with the solution. The author is a good storyteller who never let my attention wander.
It’s the right police procedural for me: well-plotted, full of suspense, and entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Joffe Books for this ARC; all opinions are mine

Adam Lyndon has been a serving UK police officer for more than twenty years, working across a range of disciplines including uniformed ops, firearms command and as a detective in CID and specialist investigations.
Adam was born and raised in Sussex. He has been a police officer for twenty years both in the UK and in New Zealand, working across a range of disciplines including uniformed ops, firearms command and as a detective in CID and specialist investigations.
He went around the world a couple of times, living in New Zealand for a year before realising home was where all the stories were. Adam writes gritty, Eastbourne-based police-procedurals with hard-edged authenticity, forming a daisy chain along the south coast alongside the likes of Graham Hurley and Peter James. He has been married for twenty years and has four children. His ambition, as his children keep reminding him, is to own a dog.

FOLLOW ADAM ON:
AUTHOR WEBSITE

BOOKS BY ADAM LYNDON

DETECTIVE RUTHERFORD BARNES MYSTERIES:

• DEVIL’S CHIMNEY
• BEACHY HEAD
• BURNT OUT SECRETS
• THE CHALK MAN

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE DETECTIVE BARNES SERIES:
‘Packed full of unexpected twists and turns.’ Sheila M.
Pulled me in and held me to the end.’ Dawn T.
‘Cracking good police story. Complex and twisty.’ Joan
‘Very good and gripping.’ Kay C.
‘Some really convoluted twists and turns. I loved it.’ Rob
‘Excellent sense of place, strong characterisation . . . authentic and detailed police procedure, and a thrilling denouement’ Oliver T.
‘A real page-turner. I thoroughly enjoyed it.’ Mike B.

Murder on the Italian Riviera by T. A. Williams (Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mysteries #7)

A brand-new cozy crime series set in gorgeous Tuscany…It’s murder in paradise!

An ex-con…
Private investigator Dan Armstrong is no stranger to working with criminals, but when he’s approached for help by Bianca Moretti, he’s on high alert. Bianca is intelligent and beautiful, and Dan likes her, but he also once sent her to prison…

A suspicious death…
Bianca explains that a guest has been found dead at her father’s luxurious and private retreat on the beautiful Italian Riviera. The police are sure the death is accidental, but Bianca is convinced the man’s been murdered. Dan’s sure he can get to the bottom of things…as long as Bianca is telling him the whole truth.

A very revealing case!
But when Dan arrives at the resort, he’s in for a shock. He finds that the place is a naturist retreat, and everybody is walking around stark naked! Dan is determined to discover the truth, but this is going to mean revealing a whole lot more of himself than he expected.

Can Dan sniff out the truth about this case before Oscar’s cold wet nose causes havoc?

Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/italianrivierasocial

My Review;
I think this is the best in this lovely series as there’s a lot of humorous moments, a very solid mystery full of surprises, and a cast of intriguing and well-developed characters.
There’s also some heartache, memories, a wonderful setting.
The descriptions of the place were excellent and it made me visualize the resort and the view of the sea and the mountain.
I read it in one sitting as it’s a page turner, one of those book that keeps you turning pages.
Oscar is the start of the novel and I love this dog and his healthy appetite (he makes me think of one of my cats who never stops eating).
It’s better to read the series in order even if can be enjoyed as a stand alone
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn’t possibly comment. Ask my wife…
I’ve written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I’m enjoying myself hugely writing romance and whodunnits. Romantic comedies are what we all need from time to time. Life isn’t always very fair. It isn’t always a lot of fun, but when it is, we need to embrace it. Murder mystery is all very well, but it needs to put a smile on your face, so that’s why I like to inject some humour. I’m having a lot of fun writing the Armstrong and Oscar cozy mystery series set in sunny Italy. They are all standalone books but if you really want to do it properly, start with the first one in the series, Murder in Tuscany. If my books can whisk you away to gorgeous locations, put a smile on your face and maybe give your heartstrings a tug, then I know I’ve done my job.
I‘ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away in south west England. I love the place. That’s why you’ll find leafy lanes and thatched cottages in many of my books. Oh, yes, and a black Labrador.
I’ve been writing since I was 14 and that is well over half a century ago. However, underneath this bald, wrinkly exterior, there beats the heart of a youngster. My wife is convinced I will never grow up. I hope she’s right.

Social Media Links:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/TAWilliamsBooks
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/TAWilliamsNews

The Love Algorithm by Camilla Isley

At 28, with a Ph.D under her belt and a meteoric rise to head of Research and Development at Mercer Robotics, Reese feels her decision to put her career first has worked out pretty well for her. Sure, she doesn’t have many personal relationships to speak of, but she does love her team and they like her too.
So when she’s called to the Big Boss’s office and told she will be looking after his son while he does a rotation in her lab, she’s not thrilled that her hard work and achievements have boiled down to being a glorified babysitter – especially to a billionaire playboy with zero experience of mechanical engineering.
But then tall, blond Thomas walks into her office, and Reese realizes this assignment is going to be even harder than she thought. Because the CEO’s son is not only extraordinarily gorgeous, chiseled, and charming… he’s also on course to become her new boss one day, and so extraordinarily out of bounds. As the pair get to know each other, can Reese hold her nerve and her beliefs, or will she fall victim to the billionaire charm?

A gorgeously funny enemies-to-lovers, work-place rom com, perfect for fans of Sarah Adams, Lynn Painter and Jo Watson.

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/LoveAlgorithmSocial

My Review:
I have been working in high tech for ages and I met some people like Reese, sort of genius with lack of social skills. Reese is a sort of genius but she’s also a sort of work alcoholics and work is the only way to spend time that would be empty.
I appreciated the realistic description because you can meet these person: they prefer to code than to go to a restaurant.
There’s a lot of references to geek culture and there’s androids that takes the place of pets.
I noticed I didn’t talk about romance but there’s romance and I liked how Reese and Thomas went from enemy to lovers in a realistic way and she doesn’t end being the perfect Stepford Wifes.
Reese is a geek and a technologist to the bones and I like her (the form sysadmin and cloud architect speaking).
There’s a lot of humour, there’s a witty and acid android. It’s fast paced and compelling, I started it and read more than 30% in a few time as I was thoroughly enjoying it and having fun.
Loved it, highly recommended.
Many thanks Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Camilla Isley is an engineer who left science behind to write bestselling contemporary rom-coms set all around the world. She lives in Italy and her first title for Boldwood, The Love Theorem, a Hollywood-meets-STEM romance, will be published in June 2023.

Social Media Links –
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/camillaisley
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Bookbub profile: Camilla Isley Books – BookBub

Hard Times For The East End Library Girls by Patricia McBride (Library Girls 2)

As the war hits London, they’ll band together…
War strikes close to home for chief librarian Cordelia when her flat is bombed, and her beloved Robert is called up and sent abroad. Fortunately, her colleagues Mavis and Jane can help see her through hard times.
The three friends find purpose in making the Silvertown library a friendly sanctuary for their deprived and devastated community. But sinister forces, from callous bureaucrats to crafty criminals, still lurk among the stacks. Worse, Jane’s soldier husband is injured and suffers both physically and mentally.
With so many struggles Cordelia and her friends might need more than books to survive war’s shadow. Can they find light in the darkness?
A captivating tale of resilience and determination, perfect for fans of Lizzie Lane, Elaine Roberts and Lesley Eames

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/hardtimeseastendsocial

My Review:
I thoroughly enjoyed this heartwarming and well written story set in the East End in 1940, during the Blitz.
It’s the second in a series but I had no issues with plot or characters even if I didn’t read the first one.
I loved the tone and the style of writing, even in the most tragic moments there’s always something that makes you think about future and hope.
Cordelia, Mavis and Jane are very differents persons. They comes from different social backgrounds and their characters are very different. But they’re able to join forces and face the difficulties of the the historical moments and those cause by bureucracy or simple pettiness.
Tom, a part time volunteer, is a very original character: he’s a conscientious objector and it’s the first time I read about one in a historical fiction set in WWII
The author did an excellent job in mixing tones as there’s humour, some drama and some moments when you feel angry.
The historical background is well done as it makes you feel how hard it was.
I cannot wait to read another book in this series, this one is highly recommended.
Many thanks to Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for this arc, all opinions are mine.

Social Media Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patricia.mcbride.106
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tricia.mcbride.writer/
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/PatriciaMcbridenews
Bookbub profile: Patricia McBride Books – BookBub

The Good Ones Are Taken by Taj McCoy

When Maggie’s best friend admits he’s in love with her, she’ll have to decide whether it’s worth giving up something good for something that could be amazing in this laugh-out-loud friends-to-lovers rom-com.

After a bad breakup, Maggie wants to find her Prince Charming, but all she’s finding are frogs. When her best friends, Savvy and Joan, apply pressure and demand she find a date worthy of attending their respective weddings, she agrees to take her own advice and try online dating. Since she’s the maid of honor for both weddings, her bridal party duties are massive, but both brides insist that Maggie prioritize finding a date. After an onslaught of maybes, noes and hell noes, she’s close to giving up, when she meets a handsome doctor at the gym who just might be the one.
Meanwhile, her college bestie, Garrett, throws salt in everyone’s game. At every turn, he points out the red flags and tells Maggie to keep looking. Things come to a head when Maggie demands that Garrett be happy for her, and he finally admits that he can’t. Not when he’s not with her. When he blurts out his feelings, Maggie’s world is turned upside down. Now she must choose between the perfect guy and a friendship that is the foundation for everything she’s ever wanted.

My Review:
I had fun as it’s a refreshing and well plotted rom-com featuring a strong female character and a realistic description of the world of dating.
No insta-love, the frogs who thinks are swans and a lot of dates that makes you wish you were home watching television.
Maggie is single after a breakup but she’s lucky because she’s got great friends and maybe one of them could be the right one.
This is a friend-to-lover story and, even if it takes some suspension of belief, I rooted for Maggie and Gareth.
The Queen-of-Skipping-sex-descriptions did her job and I had fun in reading the adventures of this groups of characters.
Entertaining and well plotted even if a bit dragging at times.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Buy Links:

BookShop.org

Harlequin

Barnes & Noble

Books A Million

Amazon

Law grad Taj McCoy is committed to championing plus-sized Black love stories and characters with a strong sense of sisterhood and familial bonds. Born in Oakland, Taj started writing as a child and celebrated her first publications in grade school. When she’s not writing, Taj boosts other marginalized writers, practices yoga, co-hosts the Fat Like Me and Better Than Brunch podcasts, shares recipes, and cooks supper club meals for friends.

Social Links:

Author Website

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TEAMLYONS: Last Witness by Lucie Whitehouse (Robin Lyons #3)

Last Witness

One murder, three families destroyed
And a detective guilty of a crime of her own

When 18-year-old Ben Renshaw is found dead in city woodland, DCI Robin Lyons is plunged into one of Birmingham’s most controversial cases.
Months earlier, Ben and his best friend gave testimony that sent a former classmate, Alistair Heywood, to prison for a vicious sexual assault. Before the trial, the boys and their families endured months of brutal witness intimidation, for which the Heywoods, a privileged and influential local family, faced no legal repercussions. Instead, they vowed revenge.
Is Ben’s murder the fulfilment of that vow, the beginning of a bloody new chapter that will go on claim lives on all sides? Or is the truth – as the Heywoods claim – something entirely different?

To solve the case, Robin has to negotiate the city’s networks of power while walking a dangerous line: her own daughter, Lennie, has a secret that could threaten her liberty – and, if it comes out, Robin’s, too. Before long, Robin comes to question whether she knows what justice is at all.

Book page: https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/titles/lucie-whitehouse/last-witness/9781398709270/

My Review:

This is the last stop in the #TeamLyons blog tour that reviews all the books in this series.
This is a book you can read as a stand-alone, but reading them in order will make you appreciate the evolution of Robin, a single mother and homicide investigator who moved from London to Birmingham, and of the main characters in this series.
The author deals with some very sensitive issues like sexual abuse, entitlement, misogyny. It brings you to dark places and into the centre of human darkness.
I started it while I was travelling and I was so engrossed that only the name of the stations made me realize time was passing.
Robin’s life is as complex as usual: she’s a woman who is part of a complex family, she’s attracted to her boss who’s married and is a former lover. Her daughter is a teenager who is involved in the trial of her uncle and is not very happy.
This is the behind-the-scenes look at a complex and highly political investigation. There are twists, red herrings, and a possible culprit related to the victim‘s social activity.
The author is an excellent storyteller, and I was kept turning pages and guessing.
Loved it, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the author, Orion and Compulsive Readers for this ARC; all opinions are mine.

Lucie Whitehouse is the author of seven novels, including the Birmingham-set Robin Lyons crime series of which Last Witness is the third. Her novels of psychological suspense include Before We Met, which was a Richard & Judy Summer Book Club and ITV Crime Thriller Book Club selection, and The Bed I Made, which was a Channel 4/TV Book Club pick. The previous Robin Lyons novel, Risk Of Harm, was a Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Month. Lucie grew up in Warwickshire, studied Classics at Oxford and worked in publishing in London before moving to Brooklyn where she now lives with her husband and daughter.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucie-Whitehouse…
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/885506.Lucie_Whitehouse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LWhitehouse5

Three Drowned Girls & One Liar Left by Emily Shiner (Detective Freya Sinclair 1&2)

My Review:

This is a common review of these two mysteries as I read one after the other and there’s an interesting character’s arc.
I’m not a fan of Freya. As soon as she appears she starts to insult anyone who’s not an early bird because she can’t understand how they can spend daytime in bed. I’m a night owl and this marks the beginning of our rocky relationship.
That said Freya slowly changes and we go from a stubborn and not very empathic character to one who’s more soft and ready to understand people around her.
The mysteries are well developed and kept me turning pages. They require some suspension of belief but they’re well done and the twisty and gritty plots kept me hooked.
I think that the second is better as we do not know why Freya is disliked by part of the small town and what is really happening when she’s being shunned by parts of the inhabitants and this is a sort of mystery in the mystery even if you know if you read the blurb.
Freya’s a good leader and I liked the member of her team, Candy and Brad, and Esther, the woman who acted as Freya’s mother.
There’s a lot of potential, well plotted thrillers and I had fun in reading both novels.
The rating is 4.5 upped to 5
Recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture for these arcs, all opinions are mine

Three Drowned Girls

When Freya Sinclair was a little girl, she had no idea what her parents were hiding in the basement of her childhood home…

After five years away from her hometown of Fawn Lake, Detective Freya Sinclair isn’t expecting a warm welcome from the people she’s sworn to protect. She became a detective to bring serial killers like her parents to justice, but the tight-knit North Carolinian community can’t see past her twisted roots.
Minutes after stepping foot back home, the body of a dark-haired young girl is pulled from the river and Freya races to the scene. She’s determined to identify the child and finally prove herself, but before Freya even has a chance to search through missing persons, another girl is reported missing.
Freya’s heart breaks at the sight of little Isa’s blonde ringlets and pristine soccer uniform in the photo her father clutches, but the look on his face says he doesn’t trust Freya. Does he think she’s just like her parents, or does he have a sinister secret of his own?
But when another innocent girl is found drowned, Freya finds a white hair ribbon snagged on a branch, and instantly recognizes it as part of the soccer team uniform at the local school…

Two drowned girls. One daughter still missing. Can Freya save Isa before she becomes the third victim? Or has the killer already set their sights on Freya next?

One Liar Left

The one killer Detective Freya Sinclair never caught is back…

High up in the mountains of Clear Creek Forest, where mist clings to the pines, the bodies of Millie Woodward and Jolie Marin are discovered by their fading campfire. Could this be the work of the notorious Fawn Lake Killer? This forest was once his hunting ground. And Freya knows the tattered, red woolen scarf wound tightly around Jolie’s neck is hiding his chilling MO. Her throat has been cut.

The one case Freya has never solved has haunted her for years. She knows the Fawn Lake Killer is organized, that he never leaves any DNA. But why did he stop, and why has he resurfaced now? Before she can even search the forest, Freya makes a heart-breaking discovery in her own backyard: the body of Annaliese Nowland, her long blonde hair fanned out in the tall grass. Annaliese’s tongue is missing. Freya knows it’s a message: he’s silencing these women. And taunting Freya.
Working day and night to make a connection, Freya finally uncovers the missing puzzle piece: a photograph of all three victims in high school together. But there’s a fourth woman in the photo, her face turned slightly away from the camera. Freya must track her down before it is too late.
Freya won’t let the past repeat itself. Did these women die because of her failure, or is she overlooking a vital clue that points to someone close to home? Freya must face her demons if she’s going to stop this predator taking another innocent life. But he’s one step ahead. And he’s coming for her…

Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author. After spending years 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.
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