Author: Pam

Recent Reads: Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 11)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Max went to war with the Time Police in the last book, and Dr Bairstow had to restrain her when they left, all to find that Matthew was with Leon, after the Time Police tried to keep him!

The Time Police are very much people who aren’t allowed at St Mary’s anymore!

Dr Bairstow sends Max, Leon and Matthew off to do what should be a light, easy, uncomplicated job, but because they’re St Mary’s, you know it’s going to be more than that!

The Markham and Hunter hilarity has been going on for a while – are they married or was that a slip of the tongue for Matthew?  Also, Hunter is very pregnant!

I do wish these people would talk to each other, some times, and that’s not just Max and Leon!

Plan for the Worst was published on 16th April 2020 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can read my reviews of the other books in the series below:

Just One Damned Thing After Another – book 1

A Symphony of Echoes – book 2

A Second Chance – book 3

A Trail Through Time – book 4

No Time Like the Past – book 5

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? – book 6

Lies, Damned Lies and History – book 7

And The Rest Is History – book 8

The Long and The Short of It – short stories 

An Argumentation of Historians – book 9

Hope for the Best – book 10

You can follow Jodi Taylor on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her website.

Recent Reads: The Other Guest by Helen Cooper

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Other Guest by Helen Cooper is a thriller told from 3 different perspectives: flashbacks from Amy on the day she died, her aunt Leah and Joanna in Derby.

This is set in Derby and also on a lake in Italy, and I enjoyed the holiday feel of the book.  There’s a mystery about how Amy died, and so as her aunt Leah starts to investigate, she finds more lies, and people avoiding answering questions.

This is an entertaining gripping book, which I can very much see being read by the pool, or on a beach!

The Other Guest was published on 16th June 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Helen Cooper on Facebook, Twitter and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to Hodder & Stoughton.

Recent Reads: Long Story Short by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s short stories for books 8-10)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Long Story Short by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s short stories for books 8-10) gives us stories like what happened at Battersea Barricades, and the war that ended because of it.  I’m still not sure what’s happening in America, but that might come out somewhere else!

Some of the stories are very short, and some are more novella length, and I enjoyed the differences.  The novellas added more to the overall story, whereas one story that was very short (Desiccated Water) was just more about the madness that is St Mary’s!

These stories are really only for you if you’re reading the St Mary’s Chronicles, which I hope my enjoyment of them has encouraged you to do!

You can read my reviews of the other books in the series below:

Just One Damned Thing After Another – book 1

A Symphony of Echoes – book 2

A Second Chance – book 3

A Trail Through Time – book 4

No Time Like the Past – book 5

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? – book 6

Lies, Damned Lies and History – book 7

And The Rest Is History – book 8

The Long and The Short of It – short stories 

An Argumentation of Historians – book 9

Hope for the Best – book 10

You can follow Jodi Taylor on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her website.

Recent Reads: Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 10)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

In Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 10), with Matthew living with the Time Police, as they’ve offered to educate him.  Max is going to work for the Time Police, so she can be near Matthew.  Captain Matthew is Matthew’s person at the Time Police, and they’ve been getting on well.

But you know it’s not going to be smooth sailing!  There’s still Clive Ronan out there somewhere, Max isn’t certain at her position in the Time Police, and wants to be sure Matthew is happy.  Oh, and missing everyone back at St Mary’s!

Another good book in a series that I’m really enjoying for what it tells me about history, as well as the colourful characters!

Hope for the Best was published on 25th April 2019, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can read my reviews of the other books in the series below:

Just One Damned Thing After Another – book 1

A Symphony of Echoes – book 2

A Second Chance – book 3

A Trail Through Time – book 4

No Time Like the Past – book 5

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? – book 6

Lies, Damned Lies and History – book 7

And The Rest Is History – book 8

The Long and The Short of It – short stories 

An Argumentation of Historians – book 9

You can follow Jodi Taylor on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her website.

Recent Reads: Phone for the Fish Knives by Daisy Waugh

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Phone for the Fish Knives by Daisy Waugh has Hollywood coming to call at Tode Hall – it’s being used for a film adaptation of a book, and so everywhere is overrun with crew, cast and trailers!  And, of course, egos!

The normal residents and employees of Tode Hall are still around, though India and Egbery plan to jet off for most of the filming.  But not before they have a grand dinner with selected people from the cast, crew and the daughter of the author of the book.

It’s all going as well as you’d expect when murder happens, and everyone is a suspect!

This is set in the modern age, but feels like it’s set in the time of Jeeves and Wooster crossed with Agatha Christie for the comedy and for the murder.

Phone for the Fish Knives was published on 17th June 2021, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

The first book in this series is In the Crypt with a Candlestick, and you can read my review here.

You can follow Daisy Waugh on Twitter and through her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown Book Group.

Recent Reads: An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 9)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 9) has Max having had enough of Ronan and coming up with a cunning plan!  After he stole Matthew as a baby in the previous book, and killed Helen, and with Leon hunting for him, and returning with Matthew aged 8, he has it coming!

Matthew doesn’t like women because of his last owners, Max feels very redundant, and so this plan is the thing that keeps her going.

The problem with Ronan is one that seems difficult to solve.  The previous book was one of hideous waiting, and this one has Max trying to take control of things.  

This is the only book series I’ve read which has ongoing time travel, and I have been interested in the big bad vs monster of the week that these books have.

An Argumentation of Historians was published on 10th April 2018, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can read my reviews of the other books in the series below:

Just One Damned Thing After Another – book 1

A Symphony of Echoes – book 2

A Second Chance – book 3

A Trail Through Time – book 4

No Time Like the Past – book 5

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? – book 6

Lies, Damned Lies and History – book 7

And The Rest Is History – book 8

The Long and The Short of It – short stories 

You can follow Jodi Taylor on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her website.

Recent Reads: Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin book 18)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin book 18) has James Lacey and Agatha who argued in the last book, and Agatha didn’t fall in line with what James wanted for the first time, and this has made him more interested in her!

Agatha on the other hand, has doubts that she is in love with him any more.

Agatha wants a perfect Christmas dinner.  She’s had a disaster before, but this time is going to be great, and she’ll kiss James under the mistletoe, and everything will be well!  Best laid plans and all that!

Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye was published in 2007 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

My review of the previous book in the Agatha Raisin series are below:

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (book 1)

Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet (book 2)

Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener (book 3)

Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley (book 4)

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (book 5)

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist (book 6)

Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (book 7)

Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (book 8)

Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (book 9)

Agatha Raisin and the fairies of Fryfam (book 10)

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (book 11)

Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came (book 12)

Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate (book 13)

Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House (book 14)

Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (book 15)

Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon (book 16)

Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor (book 17)

Recent Reads: The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell is a historical spooky thriller.  Elsie is newly married and newly widowed, pregnant, and in her late husband’s country estate with a relative of his family.  No one seems to be especially pleased to see her, and then there are some odd things happening.  

They discover some strange wooden figures, and a diary from two hundred years before, all of which suggests something bad happened.

A gothic tale, with settings including a mental asylum, this was an unsettling and thrilling read.

The Silent Companions was published on 5th October 2017 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Laura Purcell on Twitter and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Bloomsbury Books.

Recent Reads: Give Up The Ghost by Angie Fox (Southern Spirits 11)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

In Give Up the Ghost, a time capsule is dug up, and in it is a blackmailer’s book of secrets, and her daughter claims it.  And you know that means it’s the beginning of problems!

Verity and Frankie have their work cut out for them investigating a murder, a blackmailer and a member of Verity’s boyfriend’s family being implicated in the murder!

This is a cosy mystery fantasy series which I’ve been enjoying for a while.  It’s an entertaining and light read series, with some of the books being scarier than others!

Give Up the Ghost was published on 31st May 2022 and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

Angie Fox has a Facebook page and a reader group.

I’ve previously read and reviewed the below books in the series:

Southern Spirits, A Ghostly Gift and The Skeleton in the Closet – book 1, 1.5 and 2

Pecan Pies and Dead Guys – book 7 

The Mint Julep Murders – book 8

The Ghost of Christmas Past – book 8.5

Southern Bred and Dead – book 9

The Haunted Homecoming – book 10

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Moose Island Books and Author Collective 20  (the publishers) for this book.

Recent Reads: The Murder List by Jackie Kabler

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Murder List by Jackie Kabler is a rollercoaster of a read!  Mary is sent a blank diary as a gift.  She doesn’t think anything of it until she opens it and finds:

1st January MURDER LISA, OXFORD
1st February MURDER JANE, BIRMINGHAM
1st March MURDER DAVID, CARDIFF
1st April MURDER MARY, CHELTENHAM

It could all just be someone’s idea of a joke, except someone called Lisa was killed in Oxford on 1st January!  And Mary thinks she is the Mary on the list for 1st April!

This kept me guessing! I kept thinking I knew who was doing it, and every time I was wrong!  There are different threads weaving through this book, and I enjoyed the ramping up of the tension!

The Murder List was published on 31st May 2022 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Jackie Kabler on Twitter, Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to One More Chapter.