This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Janet Gordon has reviewed four contenders for your holiday reads list, and with two of the books we have copies to give away.
Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter (HarperCollins)
I absolutely love true crime recreations – think programmes like “The Pembrokeshire Murders” and because of the advance in DNA and forensic techniques, today’s detectives and crime experts normally manage to uncover “whodunit”. And now multi-million-selling novelist Cara Hunter has absolutely nailed it with her latest “Murder in the Family”, a fictional true crime reconstruction of an unsolved murder, told in script format.
Luke Ryder was stepfather to Guy Howard, then 10 years old, when he was discovered brutally murdered in the garden of their large and secluded home in North London. Nobody was ever charged. Now, twenty years later, a film crew has descended on Dorney Place. The assembled team of experts include Alan Carrick, a retired senior police officer who worked on the case. Hugh Fraser KC, a hotshot lawyer, Laila, a Forensic Psychologist and other assorted experts. And also includes Guy Howard, an American PI, and of course, the show’s producers.
Written in the form of an incredibly detailed script, you’ll be glued to the page as you try to follow
the countless twists and turns that you’ll never see coming. I cannot believe just what they uncover. This format works, and Cara Hunter has broken the murder mystery mould. Just terrific.
Over Sharing by Jane Fallon (Penguin Michael Joseph)
Jane Fallon isn’t known as the “Queen of Revenge Comedy” for nothing. Her novels crack it every
single time. I’m not very good at Instagram – Rollo Dog has his own Warrior Rollo page, but to be honest, most of the time, I forget to check it. Rollo is much more active on Twitter, with a load of Lakeland pals.
So back to Over Sharing. Iris thought she had a happy life, a happy marriage and she and Tom were trying for a baby. Maddy is an influencer – who talks about happy families and how to have one – she’s the mother of twin girls, Ruby and Rose and a husband who happily joins in with all her social media escapades.
Unfortunately, Maddy is also the person who broke up Iris’s happy home. And indulging her curiosity, Iris follows Maddy – but under a “secret” account. And she becomes obsessed with the idea of bringing down Maddy’s happy life.
Jane Fallon completely nails the way in which social media works – how we’re obsessed with likes or getting trolled if we venture a different opinion and what happens when an influencer is caught out of her own seemingly happy life. This is right on the money and will be the beach read of choice on all those poolside visits.
WIN….WIN….WIN….WIN – The Moon Gate by Amanda Geard (Headline)
The competition is now closed and we have our winners who have been informed. Thank you for all of your entries.
The Moon Gate is the most wonderful detailed read set over multiple timelines and in multiple countries. It takes a bit of getting into and keeping the characters straight.
In 1939 heiress Grace is forced to travel from her wealthy West End home to the wilds of Tasmania to live with distant relatives in Towerhurst, an old crumbling house bordering the Tasmanian jungle on the West Coast.
We move to 1975 when an artist named Willow and her new husband Ben are astounded when told they’ve been left a house on that remote Tasmanian coast. The house, now abandoned, is, of course, Towerhurst, and so they journey out to see it. Having not known who left them this property, Ben, in particular, is determined to discover just who their mysterious benefactor is.
And it’s now 2004, and Libby has never been told how her father, Ben died. Until she begins to live in the West End house from where, all those years ago, Grace left. The house is now inhabited by aged aunts Ash and Ivy, and a neighbour also befriends her. Discovering a faded old photograph and quizzing the aunts and the neighbour, Libby begins to investigate.
This is a glorious read, a perfect holiday read – we learn so much about Australia’s involvement in WW2, and there are lyrical
descriptions of the Tasmanian jungle and Grace’s growing-up years. It’s a wonderful multi-layered
historical read plotted deftly and full of surprising discoveries. I loved this so much that, having finished it, I immediately downloaded Amanda Geard’s previous novel, “The Midnight House”, a Richard and Judy Book Club choice.
Competition to win The Moon Gate (we have two copies to give away)
The competition is now closed and we have our winner who has been informed. Thank you for all of your entries.
What three years does The Moon Gate cover?
a) 1919, 1934, 2001
b) 1939, 1975, 2004
c) 1911, 1970, 2000
The Guest House by the Sea by Faith Hogan (Head of Zeus)
Are there any old-fashioned seaside guest houses left? In Ballycove, Ireland, overlooking the North West Atlantic coast, Esme has reigned supreme over her guest house for many years. With fading sight and advancing years, she is still fiercely independent. She is now getting ready for the coming season – and already there are guests booked in – admittedly not as many as in previous years – but enough to keep her guest house going.
When Esme stretches out whilst standing on a step to dust just a little further, she takes a tumble. With a broken ankle, she discharges herself from the hospital and takes up residence behind a screen in the hallway – poised to speak to all her residents and monitor their comings and goings.
Cora is bored to tears with the predictability of her life and the way in which her husband comes home from work, eats his supper, sits in the armchair, and that’s it for the rest of the day – and the following day and the following day. Niamh (no idea how you pronounce that), a big city professional, is having an affair with a married man, whilst Phyllis is a grandmother who doesn’t see her family nearly enough. And these are the guests already booked in.
Cora decides on impulse to take some time away from her boring husband and, on a whim, books into Ballycove – which is where she spent her honeymoon all that time ago and so arrives much earlier than expected. And takes it upon herself to not only book herself in but to cook supper for another early arriving gentleman until Esme discharges herself from the hospital, insisting that she can manage. She can, of course, but only with the help of her wonderful companion, the long-suffering Marta.
Faith Hogan is the author of the wonderful “The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club”, and this is yet another heartwarming read to savour.
Esme, from her perch behind the screen and because of her fading sight, recognises her guests both by their footsteps and their voices, somehow seems to dispense such homespun wisdom by way of little stories about neighbours, friends and all manner of acquaintances that somehow her listeners go away not only feeling so much better but somehow with their minds knowing exactly what to do.
We could all do with an Esme in our life.
Win…win…win…..
We have a copy of The Guest House by the Sea to be won. Simply let us know
Where is Ballycove?
- Ireland
- Wales
- Scotland
Please email your answer and your full postal address to: [email protected]
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