The first book featuring Paul Delamere, Knife Skills for Beginners, was a Book of the Week last year and given how much I’ve seen it in bookstores, it’s probably no surprise that Orlando Murrin has written a sequel. In Murder Below Deck Paul finds himself on board a super yacht with an old friend, but things start going wrong when a necklace goes missing and then a guest ends up dead. I’ve got a copy of this from NetGalley and have got as far as the necklace disappearing and Paul getting roped in to do some cooking – no body yet, but I had a migraine that stopped me getting further. But so far, so good. I’m expecting this to be fairly easy to get hold of because of how well the first book has done – that paperback came out in January with a snazzy new cover and I’m pretty sure it was on the “buy one get one half price” table in at least one of the bookshops I’ve been into since then.
It’s the first Wednesday of the month, and I’m back with the quick reviews. And for the first time in ages I actually finished all of the books I had from NetGalley that came out last month. Who knew I was even capable of that. Anyway, here we are with a quick round up of three books – two murder mysteries and a romance – I haven’t already told you about.
Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars*
This is a cozy mystery set in the world of drag performers in London. Our “detective” is Misty/Joe who discovers the body of her drag mother backstage at a club night and starts investigating because the police seem more focused on the stolen dress that Lady Lady was wearing. I really liked the setting for this – I walk around Soho quite a lot as it’s near my office, and lots of the locations were familiar to me. I liked Misty and the way you could see how her persona changed when she was Misty compared to normal life as Joe. However they were a little foolhardy/too stupid to live at times. There’s a big hanging plot thread for the next one which I’m not sure about, but overall I enjoyed this and would read more in the series if it came my way.
The Tube Train Murder by Hugh Morrison
This was another new(ish) release – that came out in early January, but that I didn’t spot straightaway. This is a new standalone mystery from the author of the Reverend Shaw mysteries, which I binged my way through last year. This sees a young woman murdered on a tube train, and the investigation taking in the residents or the boarding house where she was living while she went to secretarial college. Those residents include another student at the same college who is unhappy at the progress the police are making. The mystery is good – and the boarding house setting is well drawn. It’s in Kindle unlimited so like yesterday’s The Ten Teacups worth a look if you’re a member.
Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka*
I really, really enjoyed The Roughest Draft which I bought two years ago and was a BotW. I was then disappointed and puzzled by The Break Up tour last year – which was the husband and wife duo’s Taylor Swift inspired romance. This is set at an immersive experience based on a romantasy novel, where two work colleagues and sort-of-enemies unexpectedly encounter each other. I was hoping this would be closer to the Roughest Draft than The Break Up Tour, but sadly it’s another puzzler for me. I didn’t understand why the two leads hadn’t just had a conversation to clear the air after their initial misunderstanding, and the heroine was just really immature for how old – and established in her career – she is meant to be. Frustrating. I still have the book that came in between Roughest Draft and Break Up tour on the Kindle waiting to be read and I’m starting to worry that that first one I liked was a fluke…
And that’s the lot for this month. Given how short February is, I’m pleased with myself for even getting to free!
Another Tuesday, another British Library Crime Classic pick. And yes I finished it this week. But no, I don’t care. It was a difficult week in new reading and I stand by my choices. Have a read of Recommendsday tomorrow and you’ll understand.
This is a locked room mystery of the most impossible type: the police receive a note that evokes a cold case, telling them to go to a house in Berwick terrace at a given date and time. There they set up a cordon – but still at the appointed time, shots ring out and a man is dead. But who did it and how? Sir Henry Merrivale is called in to try and solve the crime.
John Dickson Carr – writing here as Carter Dickson – is one of the masters of the locked room and impossible mysteries and at times in this it feels like he’s trying to outdo his previous efforts (like The White Priory Murder) by creating an even more unsolvable crime. And although I have a few reservations, this is a twisty and atmospheric read that keeps you turning the pages right until the end.
This is one of the most recent BLCC releases – it only came out in early February, but it’s in Kindle Unlimited at the moment if you’re in that program. Otherwise I’m sure the paperback will pop up in bookshops that stock the British library crime paperbacks – I forgot to check for it in Foyles last week but I would be surprised if it wasn’t there in their selection.
I read Julie Tieu’s Fancy Meeting You Here back in the autumn of 2023, which was an opposites attract romance with an overstretched florist and a caterer who happens to be the brother of one of her friends. I have the follow up – with a fake relationship between colleagues on work trip – on the Kindle waiting to be read. But I’m now two behind because Tieu has a new book out this week. The Girl Most Likely too is set at a twentieth High School reunion, with the heroine attending with her former frenemy and discovering that their roles are now reversed – she’s the one without direction, he’s the one who is thriving. We all know that enemies to lovers can be a bit hit or miss for me, but I am optimistic about this one, although I really should wait until I’ve got the backlog down a bit before I buy it…
Happy Tuesday everyone, this week I’ve got a review of one of last week’s new releases for you – so points to me for being timely for once!
It’s 1939, and Evelyn Galloway is a script supervisor who has just arrived in Hollywood. She’s a script supervisor and she’s got a job working on Alfred Hitchcock’s new movie, Rebecca. Soon she’s on the film lot and mixing with the stars and crew. When she meets one of her favourite actors, she’s delighted to find that he’s actually a nice person and they arrange to meet for lunch. Except that he never turns up – and is then found murdered. When the stories in the papers don’t match up with what she know, Evelyn decides to start looking into the murder herself.
This is the first in a series – and there’s a bit of mysterious backstory going on here as well as the mystery plot. This is right in a part of history when I think mystery stories really work and Hollywood is a fun setting for something like this. There are some real people in this in minor roles, and there are some bits that are inspired by real people or stories that you can spot too if you’ve read a bit about golden age Hollywood. It’s not ground breaking, but it is a nice easy and relaxing read that is a fun way of spending a few hours. I would happily read the next one in the series if it passed my way.
My copy came from NetGalley, but it came out last week and it’s available now in Kindle and Kobo.
After including The Reunion as one of my favourite Not New books of 2024, it would be remiss of me not to mention that her next novel is out on Kindle today. The Lodge is about a writer who snags the job of ghosting the memoir of a former boyband member. The blurb says that she moves to a penthouse in Vermont to get the job done, but while she’s combing through her clients voicemails and documents to try and work out what happened to one of his bandmates who went missing, she starts taking skiing lessons with a handsome instructor called Tyler. As I said in the best of the year post, The Reunion was bang in the current trend for books about former teen stars – and there also seems to be a trend starting for books about ghost writers. It’s described as a cozy rom-com so I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens.
It’s November and we have our first Christmas-set pick of the season and it’s one of the new releases! And yes I know, I told you about it on release day, but now I’m reporting back…
Thea has been a firefighter for a decade, except that now she can’t do it any more after a colleague was injured. She’s got the chance of a job managing the fire service’s social media – but can she cope with being so close to her old job without actually doing it? And who even is she if she isn’t a firefighter? Simon is a librarian and manages the library’s social accounts part time. He’s the man tasked with teaching Thea the ropes of her new job. He also had a huge crush on her when they were at school – even though she didn’t notice him at all. As they work their way towards Christmas the two of them realise that there is something going on between them – but can they do anything about it without risking their jobs?
This is actually much lower angst than that description sounds. There is no active peril really, just some slightly toxic family members and two adults working out whether they might work together beyond the bedroom. There are adult conversations when things go wrong (not always straight away) and grown up behaviour. It’s actually a very comforting and calming read. Well except for Simon’s sister and mother who need to be fired into the sun. But apart from that. If you want to start your festive reading, this wouldn’t be a bad place to do it.
As you already know, I had this one preordered and it’s available now on Kindle and Kobo.
I’ve been in Foyles this week – and Gower Streey again and only two weeks on and and a few new things have appeared…
Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir is clinging on in the display but Al Pacino, Malcolm Gladwell and others have taken the rest of the slots.
The biggest change though is that they’ve moved the crime hardbacks, BLCCs and mass market cozy crimes and now we have three cases of horror…
On to Foyles and we’ve got the big name fiction including Nick Harkaway’s Smiley novel and the Ali Smith which I also spotted in Waterstones a couple of days early too.
And all the new crime and thrillers – including the Leonora Natrass I mentioned the other week.
And then the celebrity memoirs. I think we’ve pretty much got them all now, I can only think of one on my list that hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s a bit more niche.
I’ve included this one because I liked the look of the book about women in advertising.
And I know the question you’re all asking. Yes I did buy something. But actually it was in Foyles, as Gower Street didn’t have any of my target books. So that £30 voucher is still in my purse and I’m going back to Piccadilly next week for the big cozy crime section i resisted so valiantly last week…
I think Thursday this week was the biggest book release day of the year, but sadly I haven’t made it into a bookshop in the last two days – but instead I was in Waterstones Piccadilly on Monday and had a good wander.
There is one of those 24th October releases on this photo though – some kind person had put The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year out on the shelves a couple of days early, so of course I snapped that up. Apart from that the romance display was still fairly Halloween orientated – with Casket Case, Haunt Your Heart Out, The Wedding Witch, My Vampire Plus-One and Morbidly Yours from this season’s crop of spooky releases.
I was really pleased to see Kingmaker on a table – and I’m hoping the fact that there’s only five copies means there were more and they’ve sold a bunch. I also keep coming across mentions of Pamela Harriman at the moment, but I’ve got no idea whether it’s because the book has got people talking or it’s that thing you get where you notice things you would have missed because you’ve recently encountered some form of media about them!
And finally, on the new and reviewed history shelf has three of the history hardbacks from this autumn’s releases that I’m interested in – namely the new Helen Castor and Dan Jones, who are two historians whose work I find really interesting and readable even if their areas of expertise are different to the periods that I am usually the most interested in, and then The Scapegoatagain, which I mentioned last week.
And that’s your lot. I will endeavour to make it into a bookshop this week to see what else I can spot from the autumn new releases. After all I’m soon going to have to come up with a list of books I’d like for Christmas. Oh and I found a Waterstones voucher in my purse today from my Christmas gifts last year, that I only have six weeks left to spend…
Oh I’m super predictable aren’t I? I finished this last week, it’s fast coming up for Halloween so of course it’s my pick today. I’m sorry. Well I’m not but i have to say I am.
As I said in my release day post, our heroine is Cassie, who moves to out of the city to Boneyard Key, which has the reputation as being the most haunted place in Florida. Her new house has just been renovated by a flipper but she soon discovers that it’s some what legendary on the local ghost tour and starts to investigate whether it is in fact haunted with the help of local cafe owner Nick. Nick’s lived in Boneyard Key all his life and he’s very wary of people who move in ti the area because they don’t stick around. So he’s got a tourists only rule for his relationships – or really situationships, but is Cassie the one who is different?
This is lots of fun. I’m not always great with books with the supernatural or paranormal but this hits just the right side of everything for me. It’s fun, it’s flirty and it knows what the rules of the world are. If you like Jen DeLuca’s Ren Faire series, this has the same sort of humour and sensibility but it’s in Florida and it’s got some ghosts. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing what the next hook in the series is.
You can get it in kindle and kobo now, and theoretically paperback, but I haven’t spotted it in a shop yet – and I have been looking
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 