Tag: Orenda Books

The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson – Translated by David Warriner.

The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson

Translated by David Warriner

Summary:

1899, Belle Époque Paris. Lucienne’s two daughters are believed dead when her mansion burns to the ground, but she is certain that her girls are still alive and embarks on a journey into the depths of the spiritualist community to find them.

1949, Post-War Québec. Teenager Lina’s father has died in the French Resistance, and as she struggles to fit in at school, her mother introduces her to an elderly woman at the asylum where she works, changing Lina’s life in the darkest way imaginable.

2002, Quebec. A former schoolteacher is accused of brutally stabbing her husband – a famous university professor – to death. Detective Maxine Grant, who has recently lost her own husband and is parenting a teenager and a new baby single-handedly, takes on the investigation.

Under enormous personal pressure, Maxine makes a series of macabre discoveries that link directly to historical cases involving black magic and murder, secret societies and spiritism … and women at breaking point, who will stop at nothing to protect the ones they love…

My Review:

Firstly, I have really enjoyed all of Johana Gustawsson’s novels to-date and I am not at all sure how to begin with my review. Could this be Johana’s best yet? The Bleeding (Orenda Books) and superbly translated as ever by David Warriner is not out until 15 September so just a few more days to wait. The first thing that strikes you is the fabulous cover design. But the storyline is just a stunning complex novel that will fit into the horror come gothic thriller. Now I don’t do horror I stopped reading those back in the 1980’s but don’t be put off by this. This will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat all the way through.

Now here is a novel not just set-in two-time setting but three. It is following the story of three women one for each time setting. The time settings are 1899, 1949 and 2002, and the women are Lucienne, Lina, and Maxine. All the women’s stories are linked and none of their stories are good. Shocking in fact and here is the basis of crux of the storyline. Be prepared for a quite a reading journey that only Johan Gustawsson can take you on.

Maxine Grant is a detective and is grieving the loss of her husband who died suddenly and now she must pull all of her own resources together as she has two young children to care for, but she must now get back to work and there is a murder to solve. But what has Pauline the wife of victim got to do with the case? But what is to follow will take Maxine back in time to another tragedy and then to 1949. But how and what does this have to do with the current case that Maxine Grant is now trying to solve. There is something so incredibly spellbinding in the way the Johan has put together a who cast for The Bleeding and the setting is brilliant as is the way she pulls the whole storyline together.

Do not be put off by the multiple time settings as I found the story was a joy to follow at times there are hints of the dark, gothic, and creepy that find its way into the novel but that just adds to the suspense. I found the storyline to be chilling but outstanding and one of my books of 2022. Not to be missed.

300 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan for the review Copy of The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson. Published on 15 September 2022 and is now available to pre-order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

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#BookReview Nothing Else by Louise Beech

Nothing Else by Louise Beech

Summary:

Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet.

But Harriet is gone … she disappeared when their parents died, and Heather never saw her again.

When Heather is offered an opportunity to play piano on a cruise ship, she leaps at the chance. She’ll read her recently released childhood care records by day – searching for clues to her sister’s disappearance – and play piano by night … coming to terms with the truth about a past she’s done everything to forget.

An exquisitely moving novel about surviving devastating trauma, about the unbreakable bond between sisters, Nothing Else is also a story of courage and love, and the power of music to transcend – and change – everything.

My Review:

I have followed Louise Beech’s writing since my blog started back in autumn of 2014 and she is rare talent and I just love her writing. So, it is always exciting to hear of a new book coming and then it arrives. Nothing Else (Orenda Books) will be released on 23 June. When a book can break you and then put you back together again, you know it is something rather special. Nothing Else really is.

Having read many of t books by Louise Beech she really is a writer who just when you think you know her style, she will surprise you with something unique and different. What Nothing Else proves above all is just what an amazing writer she really is. And in her new novel Louise brings together many emotions all of which you the reader will experience.

We are introduced to Heather who is a pianist and now piano teacher and will always love teaching children to play. But the past is haunting her and the sister she lost when they were very young. Sometimes it is just something that will spark the memory and the haunting of the past and so Heather decides that she may not have made before and takes a job playing the piano on a cruise ship as it crosses the Ocean. Surely the past cannot affect her here as she plays to entertain the passengers several times during the day. Before she departs on a new venture, Heather makes a dramatic decision and requests copies of records from the Social Services, and while on board ship she will try and find out what really happened to her sister all those years ago. And here the story really begins and the reader.

As the story moves back and forth the picture of the past appears and the emotional journey will take the reader through a whole range of emotions. And this is what Louise Beech is good at is telling a superb character driven novel and taking the reader on a journey. It is heart-breaking at times.

I have loved music since childhood and still plays an important part in my life, so this is a story I loved from start to finish, yes there is a tragic past and I am not going to give anything away here, what I will say is, before you start reading and you have access to Spotify, download the Nothing Else – The Playlist, yes there is one and if you are looking for a new book, then Nothing Else by Louise Beech, must be at the top of your list. One of my books of 2022. Thank you, Louise, you have done it again.

276 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) and Anne Cater (Random Things Tours for the review Copy of Nothing Else by Louise Beech. Published by Orenda Books on 23 June 2022 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

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Keep Her Sweet by Helen Fitzgerald

Keep Her Sweet by Helen Fitzgerald

Summary:

Desperate to enjoy their empty nest, Penny and Andeep downsize to the countryside, to forage, upcycle and fall in love again, only to be joined by their two twenty-something daughters, Asha and Camille.

Living on top of each other in a tiny house, with no way to make money, tensions simmer, and as Penny and Andeep focus increasingly on themselves, the girls become isolated, argumentative and violent.

When Asha injures Camille, a family therapist is called in, but she shrugs off the escalating violence between the sisters as a classic case of sibling rivalry … and the stress of the family move. 

But this is not sibling rivalry. The sisters are in far too deep for that.

This is a murder, just waiting to happen…

Chilling, vicious and darkly funny, Keep Her Sweet is not just a tense, sinister psychological thriller, but a startling look at sister relationships and the bonds they share … or shatter.


 My Review:

What is it about a dysfunctional family story that I find so engrossing and so readable? Keep Her Sweet (Orenda Books) by Helen Fitzgerald is released on Thursday 26th May and is about one family that has its fair share of issues. Now I know that every family goes through the ups and downs of life. But this story will make you think your family are just all saints.

Let me introduce you to Penny and Andeep who finally have decided to leave their home and head out into the coutryside. Fresh air and a chance to find themselves and each other. The perfect plan. Life has been stressful but now it is their time. Their new place in the country is small but you might call it cosy, after all they believed now their daughters had fled the nest and living their own lives. Wrong! Very wrong. I am sure you like me know of a family where they have the one or two with ‘issues and what Helen Fitzgerald gives us here is a real family with problems and these are big problems at that. But saying that it is the characters that make a really good story that you cannot leave alone, and this is that story.

Just when Penny and Andeep think they are alone, both their daughters Asha and Camille who are in their twenties suddenly arrive and now things really take a turn for the worst. This place is just perfect for a couple seeking solace but when you add two grown adults who clearly want to harm each other let alone anyone who gets into their way things are going to boil over, and don’t they just. This is a fabulously rich dynamic psychological thriller but with a fair amount of humour included. Both Asha and Camille are carrying enough baggage and it really shows and I felt like someone had lit a fuse and it was taking its time to burn so you could get to know all the characters including Joy, a therapist called into to help, but she has her own issues, the fuse is burning and then finally.. BANG! There are several themes running through the story and these are for you to find. I have to say I really enjoy Helen Fitzgerald’s writing. It is engrossing and intoxicating but in a way that you cannot take your eyes off this family unit. I really want more of Helen’s books.

270 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review Copy of Keep Her Sweet by Helen Fitzgerald. Published on 26 May 2021 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

The Shot by Sarah Sultoon

The Shot by Sarah Sultoon

Summary:

An aspiring TV journalist faces a shattering moral dilemma and the prospect of losing her career and her life when she joins an impetuous photographer in the Middle East.

An act of mercy
Or the ultimate betrayal…
Who decides?

Samira is an up-and-coming TV journalist, working the nightshift at a major news channel and yearning for greater things. So when she’s offered a trip to the Middle East, with Kris, the station’s brilliant but impetuous star photographer, she leaps at the chance.

In the field together, Sami and Kris feel invincible, shining a light into the darkest of corners … except the newsroom, and the rest of the world, doesn’t seem to care as much as they do. Until Kris takes the photograph.

With a single image of young Sudanese mother, injured in a raid on her camp, Sami and the genocide in Darfur are catapulted into the limelight. But everything is not as it seems, and the shots taken by Kris reveal something deeper and much darker … something that puts not only their careers but their lives in mortal danger.

Sarah Sultoon brings all her experience as a CNN news executive to bear on this shocking, searingly authentic thriller, which asks immense questions about the world we live in. You’ll never look at a news report in the same way again…  

My Review:

We have all seen the outstanding professionalism from journalists covering conflicts. Author, Sarah Sultoon now brings her experience of being an CNN news executive with her new novel The Shot (Orenda Books) which is released tomorrow 28th April. This is an extremely powerful story of an up-and-coming TV journalist and is based in the Middle East. This packs a punch and asks many questions.

I have to say what an outstanding writer Sarah Sultoon really is. Using all her experience to take the reader to the heart of the storyline. I have always had unswerving admiration for journalists that put their lives in danger to bring the stories that matter.

Samira is a journalist based in a very busy newsroom with a major news channel she is keen to learn but she harbours ambitions to get out there herself and be at the forefront of the story rather than back at the headquarters of the news channel. She can speak Arabic, so Samira is just biding her time. Kris on the other hand is an experienced cameraman and is often in danger zones filming. Now back in the newsroom the is major breaking news and some of their own team have been involved in an incident with some of the team injured including Kris but when he gets home he is desperate to get back in the field. It is not long before Samira gets her first chance, and she heads off with Kris overseas. From one assignment to another but this time it is to Darfur in Sudan and then suddenly the story really takes a turn that even knocked me off my feet that involves some shots taken by Kris that reveal much more about what is really going on. Sometimes you get so involved in a storyline that you forget almost everything else that you must do. This was the case with The Shot.

The story is gripping and heartbreaking. But superbly written and I read it in two sittings. Here is a story that will live in your memory for some time to come. It will pose so many questions for you the reader. Not wanting to give much away here but do not miss reading The Shot.

If ever a book needs to be turned into a TV drama, then Sarah Sultoon’s brilliant story deserves this. It would make gripping watching. Simply outstanding.

#TheShot

@SultoonSarah

@OrendaBooks

276 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) and Anne Cater (Random Things Tours) for the review Copy of The Shot by Sarah Sultoon which is Published on 28th April 2022 and can be pre-ordered through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

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River Clyde by Simone Buchholz

River Clyde by Simone Buchholz

Translated by Rachel Ward

Summary:

Mired in grief after tragic recent events, state prosecutor Chastity Riley escapes to Scotland, lured to the birthplace of her great-great-grandfather by a mysterious letter suggesting she has inherited a house. 

In Glasgow, she meets Tom, the ex-lover of Chastity’s great aunt, who holds the keys to her own family secrets – painful stories of unexpected cruelty and loss that she’s never dared to confront. 

In Hamburg, Stepanovic and Calabretta investigate a major arson attack, while a group of property investors kicks off an explosion of violence that threatens everyone. 

As events in these two countries collide, Chastity prepares to face the inevitable, battling the ghosts of her past and the lost souls that could be her future and, perhaps, finally finding redemption for them all.

Breathtakingly emotive, River Clyde is an electrifying, poignant and powerful story of damage and hope, and one woman’s fight for survival.

My Review:

I know that I have said this many times on my blog about how creating characters in novels is so key to the success of the storyline, but in Simone Buchholz she nails this brilliantly in her books. Book five featuring the state prosecutor Chastity Riley hit the bookshops last week. River Clyde (Orenda Books) and follows on from Hotel Cartagena which was released in March 2021.

If you are new to this series of books by Simone Buchholz you may want to get hold of a copy of the previous book in the series Hotel Cartagena as this follows on as you get a real insight to some of the events that take place and will give you a real idea as to were this book takes off from.

Chastity Riley is still in a real state of shock after the events that took place in Hotel Cartagena. Chastity is in a pretty dark place that is until she receives an unexpected letter and now leaves Hamburg and her role as state prosecutor and heads to Scotland it now appears she has inherited a property but just who has left her the house? What we see in River Clyde is a different Chastity Riley. The events have left her shaken and our lead character is struggling. Being in Scotland may help and we are now seeing a very different character. In Scotland she is now looking into the past that connects her family history. So, this is a bit of a personal storyline not the usual crime novel that we have become accustomed to, but that does not mean to say that back in Hamburg there is not a crime that her team are investigating. This is much more of a sombre novel.

But there is something very different about River Clyde that I was not expecting that only Simone Buchholz could have done. I had the feeling that Chastity was on a personal journey to confront the past which could unlock her future for her, an emotional one for both Chastity and the reader. It was unexpected and yet revealing.

It is translated by Rachel Ward who again has done a magnificent job. River Clyde is different from the previous books in the series but a brilliant read. What now for Chastity Riley?

Pages: 276

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) and Anne Cater (Random Things Tours) for the review Copy of River Clyde by Simone Buchholz Published Orenda Books on 17th March 2022 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

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Demon by Matt Wesolowski

Demon by Matt Wesolowski

Summary:

In 1995, the picture-perfect village of Ussalthwaite was the site of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, in a case that shocked the world.

Twelve-year-old Sidney Parsons was savagely murdered by two boys his own age. No reason was ever given for this terrible crime, and the ‘Demonic Duo’ who killed him were imprisoned until their release in 2002, when they were given new identities and lifetime anonymity.

Elusive online journalist Scott King investigates the lead-up and aftermath of the killing, uncovering dark stories of demonic possession, and encountering a village torn apart by this unspeakable act.

And, as episodes of his Six Stories podcast begin to air, and King himself becomes a target of media scrutiny and the public’s ire, it becomes clear that whatever drove those two boys to kill is still there, lurking, and the campaign of horror has just begun…

My Review:

Have we really reached the sixth book in the series of the Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowski? Each one of the previous five in the series has been nothing short of outstanding and just released is Demon (Orenda Books) and Matt Wesolowski has not let up with his incredible writing.
If you have not yet come across the Six Stories series, then you are in for a real treat. Scott King is the host of a podcast that looks at old crimes and interviews those close to what really went on. Each is gripping and addictive.

For the latest in the series of the podcast our host, Scott King is investigating the brutal murder of 12-year-old Sydney Parsons, he was murdered by two boys of the same age.

The tiny Yorkshire village of Ussalthwaite was shocked by the dreadful murder and the village became the centre of the news across the world. The two boys who committed the murder were locked up but at the time no real reason for the murder was ever given, but there was something supernatural about what really happened. Now that Scott King and his podcast series are investigating the murder of Sydney Parsons the past will be brought back and six people close to the case will be interviewed as Scott seeks to look at what took place prior and after the murder. But is the village ready for the past to be raked up? Emotions are still raw especially as the two boys convicted of the murder were released in 2002 and given new identities.

As Scott King begins to investigate the case, he begins to uncover the facts about the ‘Demonic Duo’ as they became known and a village with a history that has had its heart ripped out and may never recover. But as Scott King continues his investigation and interviews, something else begins and that are the threats to him, and these get more and more terrifying. Clearly there are some people who do not want Scott King to continue with the case.

It is a dark and powerful novel with Matt Wesolowski being an outstanding writer that can allow the reader to become so involved in the storyline despite taking them to the darkest of places of the human mind. But now the question is will there be any more in the series, or will this be the last we hear of mysterious Scott King and his investigative podcasts?

320 Pages.

#Demon

@ConcreteKraken

@OrendaBooks

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of Demon by Matt Wesolowski. Published on 20th January 2022 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

Summary:

Suspicion is cast on two successful crime writers, when their seven-year-old son goes missing. Are they trying to show that they can commit the perfect crime? A mesmerisingly twisty, dark thriller from number-one bestselling author Paul Cleave…

Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are successful New Zealand crime writers, happily married and topping bestseller lists worldwide. They have been on the promotional circuit for years, joking that no one knows how to get away with crime like they do. After all, they write about it for a living.

So when their challenging seven-year-old son Zach disappears, the police and the public naturally wonder if they have finally decided to prove what they have been saying all this time… 

Are they trying to show how they can commit the perfect crime?

Electrifying, taut and immaculately plotted, The Quiet People is a chilling, tantalisingly twisted thriller that will keep you gripped and guessing to the last explosive page.

My Review:

I have been waiting patiently to publish my review of an outstanding thriller that is dark and twisted and one of the best five star reads of 2021. The Quiet People (Orenda Books) by Paul Cleave is the perfect crime novel for the Christmas period if you have not already read it that is.

As soon as the book landed on my doormat the cover just screamed at me. When a book has the has the words “Can crime writers get away with murder?” Well, there it is. Instantly it had in its grip and that was before I had even started reading.

The crime writing husband and wife that is Cameron and Lisa Murdoch seem on paper to be the perfect couple, happily married and they have become very successful as crime writers but when one night their son Zach disappears things start to unravel for the couple.

Both Cameron and Lisa tell the police that they think Zach has run away after a family argument. When there is evidence of the pair telling a writers panel that they could get away with, it is not long before the police and even the public start to question the couple’s innocence, let alone the media and we all know how the media love a high-profile case. Meanwhile the search for Zach goes on. What I really enjoyed about how Paul Cleave set out this pulsating thriller is how he uses key characters as narrators. You cannot help but become immersed in this superb plot that has many twists and turns before you reach the last page. One thing that struck me very quickly was Cameron and Lisa, were they really the perfect couple or was this just for show? A pretence to carry on selling their books perhaps. Something to me was not right. But I will let you find that one out for yourselves.

The chapters are short so you can easily put it down and go and pour yourself another drink, but you won’t want to leave this one alone for long. The Quiet People is a compelling and gripping read from start to finish and it will have one minute supporting the couple the next you won’t.

Yes, it really is that good. Forget the tv, go to your local bookshop and get yourself a copy of The Quiet People. You won’t regret it.

300 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review Copy of The Quiet People by Paul Cleave Published on 25th November 2021 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

No Honour by Awais Khan

No Honour by Awais Khan

Summary:

In sixteen-year-old Abida’s small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family’s honour to protect. And, yet, her spirit is defiant and she yearns to make a home with the man she loves.

When the unthinkable happens, Abida faces the same fate as other young girls who have chosen unacceptable alliances – certain, public death. Fired by a fierce determination to resist everything she knows to be wrong about the society into which she was born, and aided by her devoted father, Jamil, who puts his own life on the line to help her, she escapes to Lahore and then disappears.

Jamil goes to Lahore in search of Abida – a city where the prejudices that dominate their village take on a new and horrifying form – and father and daughter are caught in a world from which they may never escape.

Moving from the depths of rural Pakistan, riddled with poverty and religious fervour, to the dangerous streets of over-populated Lahore, No Honour is a story of family, of the indomitable spirit of love in its many forms … a story of courage and resilience, when all seems lost, and the inextinguishable fire that lights one young woman’s battle for change.

My Review:

Having read No Honour (Orenda Books) by Awais Khan during the last week of August I have been thinking about this book ever since. Trying to find the right words for this outstanding and poignant novel has been hard. As you read through the opening of the book you know immediately this is going to be a difficult and at times harrowing read.

In a small Pakistani village sixteen-year-old Abida lives with her family. This is a village were age old rules that must be obeyed. Her father Jamil loves his daughter, but the families honour must come first as the rules say. Girls are not allowed to go to school and must not disobey and uphold the families honour. But Abida loves Kalim and an intimate relationship begins. We find out that in a similar situation we find out that other young women have been murdered to protect the honour of the family.

Now Abida must flee the village before she is found out and faces a similar fate. Jamil loves his daughter and so he aids her escape rather than the public death that will follow. Abida now finds herself in the big city of Lahore. Very quickly she finds out that life here is going to be no better and in fact things start to get out of control. This is no life for a young strong minded young woman. Meanwhile her father Jamil recalls how he was brought up by his mother and how strong willed she was and now he sets off to find his daughter. Soon they are trapped in a desperate dark world where drugs and prostitution and corruption seem the norm. All Abida wanted was a new life for herself her child and Kalim. The narrative of the story alternates between Abida and her father Jamil and you may think that reading this that the novel is just too horrific to read and yes at times it is graphic and hard to read but what there is here is hope and Awais Khan has written a beautiful story.

As I read through No Honour, I wanted Abida to find the freedom to bring up her child and settle down with Kalim and Abida’s father who risked everything and the shame it would bring to his family. But love for his daughter is more means everything to him. This is an important book and there were times it felt as though my heart had just been ripped out. All I will say is here is that the one thing we have is hope, and we cling to that like a life raft.

What an outstanding writer Awais Khan really is. I await to see what comes next.  

276 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of No Honour by Awais Khan.

No Honour by Awais Khan is published by Orenda Books and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

The Beresford by Will Carver

The Beresford by Will Carver

Summary:

Just outside the city – any city, every city – is a grand, spacious but affordable apartment building called The Beresford.

There’s a routine at The Beresford.

For Mrs May, every day’s the same: a cup of cold, black coffee in the morning, pruning roses, checking on her tenants, wine, prayer and an afternoon nap. She never leaves the building.

Abe Schwartz also lives at The Beresford. His housemate, Sythe, no longer does. Because Abe just killed him. 

In exactly sixty seconds, Blair Conroy will ring the doorbell to her new home and Abe will answer the door. They will become friends. Perhaps lovers. 

And, when the time comes for one of them to die, as is always the case at The Beresford, there will be sixty seconds to move the body before the next unknowing soul arrives at the door.

Because nothing changes at The Beresford, until the doorbell rings…

Eerie, dark, superbly twisted and majestically plotted, The Beresford is the stunning standalone thriller from one of crime fiction’s most exciting names.

My Review:

There is something about Will Carver’s novels, I have been lucky enough to have read all of them so far and loved each one and his latest The Beresford (Orenda Books) is out in bookshops now and this is right up there with Carver’s previous novels but just be aware of the doorbell! There is something creepy about Will Carver and his books and his latest is no exception. It is dark, eerie and chilling.

Welcome to The Beresford this old building that has apartments, and some rather interesting tenants, except many won’t be around for long and so we hear the doorbell ring that heralds a new arrival.

The rates are cheap at The Beresford and so they come. We meet Mrs May whose age no-one really knows but guess. She has a daily routine; she makes coffee and lets it go cold because that is how she likes it. She even prays for many of the residents that come to stay. She prunes the roses and believes she knows everything that goes on at The Beresford.

Then we meet Abe, who seems like a nice guy, but Abe has just killed Sythe and has exactly sixty seconds to move the body. But Abe is a good person and did not want to kill Sythe. But just how is he going to dispose of the body?

The doorbell rings and a new arrival has come to stay, Blair Conroy has arrived finally away from her devout religious parents and now has the freedom to do want every she wants even with the bedroom door open.

Death awaits those who come to stay at The Beresford when the doorbell rings there is that dread of knowing that murder will follow, and each new arrival is a character, and each has their own story to be told.

Will Carver does write brilliant books and there is real humour to be found within the pages of The Beresford and you the reader are going to meet the residents as they arrive, their fate is sealed but are YOU going to judge them before they meet their fate?

But why are the people here committing murder? If the walls could speak what tales, they would tell of the goings on in this old apartment building. Of the people that come to stay and ultimately die. The Beresford is just a brilliantly chilling read in a way that only Will Carver can create. Is that the doorbell I have just heard?

276 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of The Beresford by Will Carver.

The Beresford by Will Carver is released through published by Orenda Books and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

One Last Time by Helga Flatland

One Last Time by Helga Flatland

Translated by Rosie Hedger

Summary:

My Review:

Anne’s life is rushing to an unexpected and untimely end. But her diagnosis of terminal cancer isn’t just a shock for her and for her daughter Sigrid and granddaughter Mia it shines a spotlight onto their fractured and uncomfortable relationships.

On a spur-of-the moment trip to France the three generations of women reveal harboured secrets, long-held frustrations and suppressed desires, and learn humbling and heart-warming lessons about how life should be lived when death is so close.

With all of Helga Flatland’s trademark humour, razor-sharp wit and deep empathy, One Last Time examines the great dramas that can be found in ordinary lives, asks the questions that matter to us all and ultimately celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, in an exquisite, enchantingly beautiful novel that urges us to treasure and rethink … everything.

My Review:

Having really enjoyed A Modern Family I have been so looking forward to One Last Time (Orenda Books) and is Helga Flatland’s sixth novel and her second to be translated into English and beautifully translated by Rosie Hedger. I have become a fan of Helga Flatland’s writing as she does really bring a story alive with her characters.

Families can sometimes be complicated, and secrets can be kept and even cracks that appear are papered over. In One Last Time we follow the story of Anne who has been diagnosed cancer and the news is bleak. Now is a time for those close to Anne to come together and no more so than her daughter Sigrid but also for her granddaughter Mia.

In this family there have been many problems that have really caused cracks in the family to become much deeper which in turn has affected all the relationships in the family. The story focuses mainly on mother and daughter but not ignoring the problems that are occurring between Sigrid and her daughter Mia.

You may think that this is a novel that could be bleak and even dark, but with Helga Flatland you just know that she will bring something into the story even humour will find a way into the devastating storyline. Many novels can leave a lasting impression and is why I have come to love Flatland’s writing as this is a storyline that will leave a legacy on the reader as much as Anne only wants to leave only the positive of memories behind. This is a family trying to reconnect and trying to reconnect with themselves.

At the end of the day all we have is love and love can mend broken hearts and even broken families. The characters that have been created are characters you will come to know, and it is Anne and her strength and even humour when faced with what is to come.

Helga Flatland has again weaved a beautiful and emotive story and one to be cherished like life itself.

276 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of One Last Time by Helga Flatland.

One Last Time by Helga Flatland is published by Orenda Books on 24th June 2021. Available to order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org