Category: Harper Collins

Fiction and Non-Fiction Books of the Year 2019

Fiction and Non-Fiction Books of the Year 2019

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As the old year comes to a close it is time to look back at the books I have read and loved through the year. This year I am going to do something a little different rather than just select my favourites I am going to simply select my best fiction and non-fiction. Two books that really made my year and really got my attention. So many books could have made the list that I had trouble just choosing the top ten.

FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

 

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The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

(Harper Collins)

Summary:

EVERYONE’S INVITED.
EVERYONE’S A SUSPECT.
AND EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT IT.

In a remote hunting lodge, deep in the Scottish wilderness, old friends gather for New Year.

The beautiful one
The golden couple
The volatile one
The new parents
The quiet one
The city boy
The outsider

The victim.

Not an accident – a murder among friends.

Fiction Book of the Year 2019:

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley was my first read fiction read that I started on New Years Day and it was the perfect read for the time of year. It screamed Agatha Christie very quickly into the book. I was hooked and this is a story based at a Hunting Lodge on The Loch Corrin Estate in the Highlands of Scotland a group of friends who have known each other for many years gather again to bring in the New Year Hogmanay style. The weather is closing in with heavy snow falling and there is a murder. Nobody can leave. Among the group trapped in the lodge are the guests and a small number of staff and there is a murderer among them. But who is it?

A chilling and atmospheric crime thriller and a cast of characters that you will come to know and one of them could be the killer, but then again what of the staff? You will also get to hear their thoughts as well.

My Review from January 2019:

What a cracking start to 2019 with a good old fashioned murder mystery and The Hunting Party (Harper Collins) the debut crime novel Lucy Foley and what a cracking edge of your seat thriller it turned out to be. The perfect read between Christmas and New Year as you will see why.

It is New Year’s Eve at a group of friends have come together to see in the New Year in style at The Loch Corrin Estate which is a typical out of the way hunting lodge in the Highlands. A Hogmanay to remember as it turned out for all the wrong reasons.

Snow is falling and it is turning out to be a white out, real blizzard conditions. So a group of friends who all went to oxford spend their New Year’s Eve year on year together. The story starts on New Year’s Day and something is very wrong as one of the guests is missing and a body has been found. This was no accident in the snow. This is murder. So who done it and why?

This group of friends now in their thirties have known each other for some years so who has been murdered and it is clear the killer is one of the party. With the snow getting worse. No-one is leaving and the police cannot get to the lodge due to the bad weather.

We do not know who has been murdered as Lucy Foley keeps us guessing as we work back and forth and are introduced to each of the characters and what a group of characters they are. Then there are the staff. There are three on duty for the Hogmanay celebrations and we get to know each of them. The plot is thickening and past history is bubbling to the surface.

There is something brilliantly old about reading The Hunting Party, knowing you are trapped inside this old lodge and there is a killer among you and will they strike again?

The characters really do bring something to the party and eerie setting makes for a chilling and twisty plot.

This will keep you gripped to the very end. Brilliant writing from Lucy Foley makes The Hunting Party a one to watch for January 2019. I would order your copy today. How well do you know your friends?

So many great fiction titles I have read through the year and so many of them came very very close but The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley was the book that I just kept talking about through the year.

NON -FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

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The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

(Doubleday)

Summary:

Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers.

What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888.

Their murderer was never identified, but the name created for him by the press has become far more famous than any of these five women.

Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, historian Hallie Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, and gives these women back their stories.

Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2019

Hay Festival Book of the Year 2019

NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019:

If my choice of the fiction book of the year was my first book to have been read of 2019, then my choice of Non-Fiction book of the year was my last book to have been read of 2019 and what a book it was.

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold was released in late February of this year and I never got to read this until December despite many people recommending this to me and what an outstnading piece of work by Hallie Rubenhold. For over 130 years the five Women were all labelled as protitutes and finally Hallie Rubenhold tells the story of the five women and their lives. There only crime was that they were homeless and many of them turned to drink and so when their bodies were found they were labelled as protitutes. What Rubenhold tells in her account is the story of the five women. This book will leave a mark on me for many years and will make you angry at how badly each of the victims have been treated for over 130 years. A briliant book that will finally give a voice to the five women.

My Review from December 2019:

The brutal murders by Jack the Ripper took place in 1888, that was 131 years-ago and at last a landmark book has been written of the real lives of the five women that were murdered in London by a killer that has never been identified. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Historian Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday) gives a voice to the five women and it is without doubt one of the greatest books of 2019.

If you searched for books on Jack the Ripper it would take you the best part of the day to look at each one as each book sets out trying to identify who the killer was, but how many books have there been that give a voice to the five women: Mary Anne ‘Polly’ Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly. The research done by Hallie Rubenhold has been extensive and deserves the many plaudits she has received for this vital book. The misogyny that surrounds the many stories of Jack the Ripper through the years and even still today.

Each of the women has a chapter dedicated to them and follows their lives from day they were born to when they died. Each one found themselves alone and in poverty in the Whitechapel part of London. Each of the women led a life and someone’s daughter, friend, lover and deserves better than history has given them. At last in Hallie Rubenhold’s book their lives are detailed and the myths finally buried.

What Rubenhold explores is the extreme hardship of the times and being a woman meant having little or no support. Being born into hardship and spiralled downwards, alcohol dependency and being homeless, the police investigation tells of the women being prostitutes but this Hallie Rubenhold after extensive investigations finds that there is no evidence stating that three of the five being Nichols, Chapman or Eddowes were not prostitutes but they were preyed upon because they were just intoxicated, homeless and asleep. To Jack the Ripper they were targets.

Never has a book held me in its grasp as The Five has. History has been extremely shameful in what has been said of the five women but 131 year later, Hallie Rubenhold has provided justice for each of the victims for which I congratulate the author. It is though shameful that it has taken over 130 years for this wrong to be righted. Highly Recommend.

Books of the Year 2

 

So there we have it. Another year in books has come to a close. A year that I will remember for many great reasons. We celebrate books and the writers through the year and looking ahead to 2020 and a new decade it promises to be another exciting literary year.

To those who follow me here or through my Twitter feed, thank you for all your kind words and to the those who I have had the pleasure of meeting here is to the next time.

Let us hope for a more peaceful year ahead.

Happy Reading and Happy New Year.

 

 

Face It: A Memoir by Debbie Harry

COVER

Face It: A Memoir by Debbie Harry

Summary:

BRAVE, BEAUTIFUL AND BORN TO BE PUNK

DEBBIE HARRY is a musician, actor, activist and the iconic face of New York City cool. As the front-woman of Blondie, she and the band forged a new sound that brought together the worlds of rock, punk, disco, reggae and hip-hop to create some of the most beloved pop songs of all time. As a muse, she collaborated with some of the boldest artists of the past four decades. The scope of Debbie Harry’s impact on our culture has been matched only by her reticence to reveal her rich inner life – until now.

In an arresting mix of visceral, soulful storytelling and stunning visuals that includes never-before-seen photographs, bespoke illustrations and fan art installations, Face It upends the standard music memoir while delivering a truly prismatic portrait. With all the grit, grime, and glory recounted in intimate detail, Face It recreates the downtown scene of 1970s New York City, where Blondie played alongside the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie.

Following her path from glorious commercial success to heroin addiction, the near-death of partner Chris Stein, a heart-wrenching bankruptcy, and Blondie’s break-up as a band to her multifaceted acting career in more than thirty films, a stunning solo career and the triumphant return of her band, and her tireless advocacy for the environment and LGBTQ rights, Face It is a cinematic story of a woman who made her own path, and set the standard for a generation of artists who followed in her footsteps – a memoir as dynamic as its subject.

My Review:

I rarely get the opportunity to review books on music but I could not let this book pass me by especially as this would make an ideal Christmas gift. Face It: A Memoir by Debbie Harry is powerful and pictorial memoir looking back on her life and music.

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Debbie Harry will always be known for the 70’s punk/new wave band Blondie that sold over 40 million records all over the world. Debbie Harry was the face of Blondie during those heady days during the latter part of the 1970’s. Stunning in her beauty and her singing. But where did it all begin?

Debbie Harry (born Angela Trimble) was put up for adoption at three months old and was then adopted and grew up in New Jersey. Fame was almost destined for Debbie Harry as she wanted to be famous even when very young. After leaving school she worked for the BBC in New York as a secretary before leaving to become a playboy bunny as she searched for her role in music. It was just a matter of time. New York was also the attraction and at the time the Big Apple was alive in the music scene and Harry played in a number of bands but the sound was just not quite there.

It was while she was performing with one of those bands that she met Chris Stein and it was I guess destiny. Blondie was born and now the pair would not only collaborate on songs but they would also end up together.

That day in 1978 watching Top of the Pops singing ‘Denis’ was one of the best moments of watching the iconic pop show. It was the moment that launched Blondie here in the UK. Both the lyrics and her beauty on stage made time just stand still.

Many hits followed and we all know them if like me you grew up in the late 1970’s. Though as the 80’s dawned the pressure to write and perform always takes its toll and the relations through the group became strained. There are the stories of drugs and alcohol. It was though Chris Stein’s health that brought the end for Blondie. During the 80’s Debbie Harry went solo for a while and songs such as French Kissing in the USA was to become her only top 10 UK song. The latter part of the 1980’s saw the reunion of Blondie.

A remarkable career of one of rocks greatest and a memoir that brings to light so much that we have never known before but there is one thing in Face It that is something different to any memoirs is the paintings and drawings by fans that Debbie Harry had always kept and through the book there are so many brought to life for the first time. Surprising and at times eye opening. But I get the feeling there is still more to the iconic Debbie Harry that what we read in Face It: A Memoir. If you loved the music of Debbie Harry and Blondie, then this will make an ideal read.

368 Pages.

Face It: A Memoir by Debbie Harry was published by Harper Collins and was published on 1st October 2019 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

 

The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver

COVER

The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver

Summary:

A student kidnapped from the park.
Nineteen-year-old Sophie disappears one summer afternoon. She wakes up to find herself locked inside a derelict warehouse, surrounded by five objects. If she uses them wisely, she will escape her prison. Otherwise she will die.

An investigator running out of time.
Sophie’s distraught father calls in the one man who can help find his daughter: unique investigator Colter Shaw. Raised in the wilderness by survivalist parents, he is an expert tracker with a forensic mind trained to solve the most challenging cases. But this will be a test even for him.

A killer playing a dangerous game.
Soon a blogger called Henry is abducted – left to die in the dark heart of a remote forest – and the whole case gets turned on its head. Because this killer isn’t following the rules; he’s changing them. One murder at a time…

 

Jeffery-Deaver

My Review:

This is the first in a new series from the master thriller writer Jeffery Deaver. I was delighted to receive a copy in the post and a thumping page turner it really is. So much so that I am actually a few days late with my review as I kept re-writing the review. A good sign.

Our main character is Colter Shaw who is by definition a reward seeker pure and simple. Shaw’s skill is tracking after being brought up within a family that honed his skills and now he puts them to good use in this tense thriller The Never Game (Harper Collins). His services have been requested to search for a missing woman Sophie Mulliner after her father becomes worried for his missing daughter. Frank has heard so much of Shaw’s experiences and is frustrated at the lack of a breakthrough by the local police.

But soon this becomes a tale of red herrings and murder. One centre of attention is Sophie’s boyfriend Kyle who had a bit of a reputation for mistreating her. What does Kyle know? But there is another twist when Kyle himself is killed when they end up in a disused factory. Was Kyle himself silenced?

This is a fast paced thriller and there is a link to video games within the plot, well this is a first in a thriller for me. But found our main character Colter Shaw to be one interesting character with a past of his own. If you are a fan of Jefferyy Deaver’s novels, then you will not be disappointed and I am now already looking forward to the next instalment.

416 Pages.

Thank you to Rebecca Bryant for the review copy of The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver

The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver was published by Harper Collins and was published on 16th May 2019 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

The Ghost Tree by Barbara Erskine

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The Ghost Tree by Barbara Erskine

Released in paperback on 7th March is the latest best-seller by Barbara Erskine. The Ghost Tree (Harper Collins). The main character Ruth Dunbar has returned to Edinburgh after the death of her father. Now she is faced with sifting through all his belongings.

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Ruth is having a tough time after the break-up of her marriage and also losing her career. The death of her father has come as a latest blow. Sifting through her father’s she now comes across a cupboard full of possessions belonging to her mother among them are letters and documents and also diaries kept by her mother’s ancestor Thomas Erskine. Thomas really lived a life but as she reads she begins to feel she is not alone in this isolated room at the top of the house.

As the name of the book suggests this is also a ghost story. But it is not just the ghost of Thomas Erskine that Ruth can feel, as she discovers more about Thomas’s past she also realises that he had his enemies and now she feels the presence of not only Thomas but also his enemy.

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Ruth now must count on her friends who have experience in dealing with the paranormal. This is not really a scary ghost story but you find this novel dealing with aspects of trying to rid the house of the ghostly existence.

The story moves between the past and the present and this historical part of the novel I enjoyed more especially as Barbara Erskine brought into the novel her great-great-great-great-great grandfather Thomas Erskine who she heard so much about through her own family.

It is not only the past that contains enemies but also the present for Ruth, one such person is Timothy one man that really is not at all pleasant and is seriously questioning Ruth’s inheritance.

If you are a fan of Barbara Erskine then this really is for you.

592 Pages.

Thank you to Charlotte Walker from LoveReading for the review copy of The Ghost Tree by Barbara Erskine.

The Ghost Tree by Barbara Erskine was published by Harper Collins and was published on 7th March 2019 in Paperback and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

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The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

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The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

What a cracking start to 2019 with a good old fashioned murder mystery and The Hunting Party (Harper Collins) the debut crime novel Lucy Foley and what a cracking edge of your seat thriller it turned out to be. The perfect read between Christmas and New Year as you will see why.

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It is New Year’s Eve at a group of friends have come together to see in the New Year in style at The Loch Corrin Estate which is a typical out of the way hunting lodge in the Highlands. A Hogmanay to remember as it turned out for all the wrong reasons.

Snow is falling and it is turning out to be a white out, real blizzard conditions. So a group of friends who all went to oxford spend their New Year’s Eve year on year together. The story starts on New Year’s Day and something is very wrong as one of the guests is missing and a body has been found. This was no accident in the snow. This is murder. So who done it and why?

This group of friends now in their thirties have known each other for some years so who has been murdered and it is clear the killer is one of the party. With the snow getting worse. No-one is leaving and the police cannot get to the lodge due to the bad weather.

We do not know who has been murdered as Lucy Foley keeps us guessing as we work back and forth and are introduced to each of the characters and what a group of characters they are. Then there are the staff. There are three on duty for the Hogmanay celebrations and we get to know each of them. The plot is thickening and past history is bubbling to the surface.

There is something brilliantly old about reading The Hunting Party, knowing you are trapped inside this old lodge and there is a killer among you and will they strike again?

The characters really do bring something to the party and eerie setting makes for a chilling and twisty plot.

This will keep you gripped to the very end. Brilliant writing from Lucy Foley makes The Hunting Party a one to watch for January 2019. I would order your copy today. How well do you know your friends?

400 Pages.

Thank you to for the review copy of Emilie Chambeyron (Harper Collins) for the review copy of The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley is published by Harper Collins on 24th January 2018 and is available to pre-order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

 

 

Lies Between Us – Ronnie Turner

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Lies Between Us

I have known Ronnie Turner for quite a while on Twitter, a fellow book blogger, so when Ronnie announced that she had written a book and it was going to be published via HQ Digital I was absolutely delighted. This was one of those really great positive news stories. One us (book bloggers) was going to be in print. So to be asked if I would review for Ronnie, this was probable more nervous for me than Ronnie herself. What would happen if I did not get on with the plot? Well I am delighted to say that Lies Between Us is a real cracker of a psychological thriller.

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Three different characters, three different timelines. The main characters are Miller, who is a chilling character, controlling even at a young age. Miller has some serious issues and Ronnie Turner really plays a blinder with Miller. Maisie Green is a nurse in ICU. She really cares for her patients and those loved ones who are worried at their bedside. But despite her wonderful happy life with Ben, Maisie hides a secret even from her beloved Ben. This she carries with enormous guilt. Then finally there is John who is a writer. A life lived and worked hard for. John could not ask for anymore a wife he adores. Until one-day John’s daughter Bonnie goes missing. Both John and his wife Jules are shaken to the core at the thought their daughter has been kidnapped. Then things get worse for them both as it becomes clear the person behind knows both John and Jules. Is their daughter still alive? Can the Police find her before it’s too late?

Each of the three stories are connected, and it is a really compelling psychological thriller that is addictive, it can be uncomfortable when the story is talking about Bonnie. But what is the connection between all three. What is Maisie hiding and her latest patient she is taking a real interest in the wife of the patient.

The reader may make up their own mind as the story progresses, but be warned some thrillers do not go the way you think, same old secrets and lies? This one will test you and make you think. For a debut novel this is incredibly plotted and character driven. Congratulations Ronnie and a fantastic debut. 

384 Pages.

Thank you to HQ Digital for the review copy of Lies Between Us by Ronnie Turner.

Lies Between Us by Ronnie Turner is published in paperback on 13th December 2018 and the eBook is available now and published by HQ Digital.

#LiesBetweenUs  @Ronnie_Turner

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The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap

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The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap

There was something about The Rules of Seeing the debut novel by Joe Heap that just attracted me even before a copy had arrived and I am so pleased a copy did arrive. One of the best debut novels I have read this year. Just sometimes a book will come along and give you a jolt and this is that book.

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They say never judge a book by its cover and this is one, I thought I was going to have a good idea of how this was going to play out. I was wrong. In the end I loved it more.

Nova is blind, in fact she has been blind since birth. But that has not stopped Nova from fulfilling her life. She accepted being blind and got on with life. Then there is Kate, but she is suffering in a very different way at the hands of her abusive husband Tony. One day both Nova and Kate unintentionally meet at the hospital. Nova has surgery that is giving her something that she thought she would never have. Sight. Kate is at the hospital but in complete denial. She is hurt but of course it was nothing to do with Tony.

Two people’s lives are now connected as Nova is an interpreter for the Police and of course she knows Kate’s husband. The first part of the book is told by both Nova and Kate as the story starts to build from halfway. This is an incredible story of two women whose lives have suffered in one way or another.

The Rules of Seeing is a story so full of emotion. The characters of Nova and Kate are strong and yet Tony who is the ultimate of two faced character representing the law and the thug at home. The horrific abuse Kate has to suffer is shocking.

I loved this book for many reasons it is thought provoking. I have not come across a story of one person who is blind and then able to see after pioneering surgery. It made me think. One woman blind from birth but another woman blind to the horrors she faced daily at home.

I remember that tingling feeling when I have read an extremely great debut novel. I had that very same tingling feeling after I finished reading The Rules of Seeing. Congratulations Joe Heap.

416 Pages.

Thank you to Felicity Denham at Harper Collins for the review copy of The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap.

The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap is published by Harper Collins and published today 9th August 2018 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

@joe_heap_     #TheRulesofSeeing

 

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The 2018 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize ~THE WINNER~

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The 2018 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize

WINNER

I was delighted to have been invited to the 2018 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize announcement which took place at the beautiful surroundings of Blenheim Palace and the BBC TV’s Countryfilelive event. The day was just perfect with the event bathed in hot sunshine all day.

This year Countryfile’s Ellie Harrison made the announcement with Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Gove also giving a speech about nature and the environment in front of a packed audience.

With all the authors and illustrators present and in turn each giving a little talk about their book. You could almost feel the tension rise as the moment for the announcement came.

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BBC TV’s Countryfile present Ellie Harrison announces the 2018 winning author and book.

 And so the winner of the 2018 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize went to:

The Seabird’s Cry by Adam Nicolson (William Collins)

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Originally published in Hardback in June 2017 The Seabird’s Cry (William Collins, Harper Collins) is an incredible book dedicated to the lives of seabird’s. A strong environmental message comes out of this book that I said long before it won the Wainwright Book Prize that it was a natural history classic.

There are ten chapters each dedicated to a specific seabird. From Fulmar’s to Puffin’s Adam Nicolson follows their lives from the coastlines and islands of the UK to Norway, Iceland and the coastline of America. What Adam sees are numbers crashing. Seabirds that are majestic on the sea and in the air travel hundreds of thousands of miles each year to breed and then to spend winters travelling the sea’s.

Were once the numbers where in many thousands they are now at a shocking level that one day soon could be lost forever and we will be left remembering the mass of seabird colonies in the spring. This is not a threat it really is happening.

A superbly researched and beautifully written book with illustrations by Kate Boxer. The Seabird Cry now joins the illustrious previous winners of the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize.

416 Pages.

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Adam Nicolson collects his prize as winning author for The Seabird’s Cry.

 Congratulations to Adam Nicolson but also to all the authors and illustrators who made the longlist and shortlist. This almost certainly was a tough decision to choose a winner and that is a testament to the sheer quality and resurgence of nature writing in the UK today.

My thanks go to Laura Creyke and everyone at Mark Hutchinson Management and also to Alastair Giles and the team at Agile Ideas for all their help and support.

The Wainwright Book Prize is named after the Lakelands much loved Alfred Wainwright, and is supported by White Lion Publishing (publisher of the world famous Wainwright Guides), Wainwright Golden Beer, the Wainwright Estate and in Partnership with The National Trust. The winner receives a cheque for £5,000.

For more information, visit The Wainwright Book Prize and you can follow on Twitter via: Wainwright Prize

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Entanglement by Katy Mahood

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Entanglement by Katy Mahood

Entanglement is the brilliant debut novel from Katy Mahood that begins on a train platform at London Paddington station in 2007 and three people’s lives cross and yet there is something about these three people and how they become linked. Primarily this is a novel about the choices people make and the encounters along life’s journey and just how they can all become connected.

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The three people at the centre of this novel are Stella, Charlie and John. Is there a connection between the three people? Now this is where the novel now takes a backward step of thirty years and the lives of two couples during the 1970’s.

This is a story of people’s lives of marriages that upset parents and shattered dreams and the horror of a London pub bombing and the carnage and aftermath that this brings. For Stella she has dreams of an academic career and all this is brought to an end as she faces up to becoming a young mum and the father John, how does he take to the idea of being a father so soon?

Then there is Charlie and Beth just an ordinary couple and the everyday struggles of life. These two couples are just ordinary people leading ordinary lives yet somehow inexorable linked. A story of connections over the course of decades and most of all as the story reaches its end a story of hope. At the end of the day hope is what we all cling onto in our everyday life and Katy Mahood weaves a captivating debut novel of chance encounters. Wonderful characters and so beautifully written.

320 Pages.

Thank you to Ann Bissell (Harper Collins) for the advanced review copy of Entanglement

Entanglement by Katy Mahood is published by Borough Press and was published on 22nd March 2018 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops.

The Last Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine

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The Last Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine

This is the story of a woman who is not happy at just being no-one and this woman wants to be something more. This is the story of Amber Patterson who is that woman. In The Last Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine we see a woman who wants a share of the lifestyle of the wealthy. Amber Patterson is manipulative and wicked. But she does not care she wants the lifestyle that she craves and she has a plan.

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Amber Patterson has set her sights on the wealthy lifestyle of a couple Daphne and Jackson Parrish and her desires on Jackson to get the life she believes she deserves. So now Amber’s plan to worm her way into the lives of this couple be befriending Daphne all seem to be going according to plan.

For Daphne Parrish and her husband, theirs is the life that is just perfect. She is beautiful and the perfect life with her wealthy husband Jackson and their two children. Now all Amber has to do is just set about catching the eye of Jackson and let everything fall into place or so she thinks. The problem with Amber is that she has a past, the skeleton in the closet and this is about to wreck her plans.

This is a novel is narrated by the main characters Amber and Daphne and at first we see how Amber sets about her plan that is just set out so perfectly even though you detest this character already. This woman is set about to destroy a family for her own insatiable greed.

In the second part we hear from Daphne, and then in the final part we come to the gripping finale. It would be so easy for me to go into detail here but this is a novel that many will enjoy. The characters are so well created and you may hate Amber who is the perfect jealous greedy woman who wants Daphne’s role in the family. But saying that what about the golden couple themselves, they too have their own secrets hiding away just waiting to be told.

A story with a few twists that will throw you off course The Last Mrs Parrish is a dark and thrilling suspense filled rollercoaster that many will enjoy. A superb psychological debut.

 400 Pages.

Thank you to Felicity Denham at Harper Collins for the review copy of The Last Mrs Parrish.

The Last Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine is published by Harper Collins and was published on 28th December 2018 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops

 

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