Author: Pam

Recent Reads: In Like Flynn by Rhys Bowen (Molly Murphy book 4)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Molly’s latest job is from Daniel, who she is trying to stay away from until he gets rid of his fiancée.  The job is outside of New York, which is good as there is a typhoid epidemic in the city at the moment.  Daniel wants Molly to try to uncover the Sorenson Sisters, a spiritualist pair, and show them for frauds.

They are staying at Senator Barney Flynn’s and so Daniel wants Molly to join the household as a cousin.  Senator Flynn and his wife. Theresa, lost their son 5 years ago as he was kidnapped and not returned.  Theresa is desperate to make contact with her son.

An unsolved kidnapping in addition to uncovering fraudsters is all up Molly’s street!

We haven’t dealt very much with the upper classes in these books, other than occasional visits, and so this was an interesting change of pace!

In Like Flynn was published on 29th November 2005, and is available from Amazon and  Waterstones.

You can follow Rhys Bowen on Twitter, Facebook and her website.

You can read my review of books in this series: 

Murphy’s Choice (book 1)

Death of Riley (book 2)

For The Love Of Mike (book 3)

Recent Reads: Midwinter Mysteries

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟

Midwinter Mysteries by eleven authors is a selection of short stories, each involving a mystery of some kind.

Some were good, some weren’t as good, but it was an interesting collection to find new mystery authors and series.

Midwinter Mysteries was published on 31st October 2019 and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

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

Recent Reads: The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott is set in 1956, when Boris Pasternak is writing Doctor Zhivago, and there’s controversy surrounding it.  Soviet Russia could ban it, but the USA is interested in getting it’s hands on it.

We meet two women – Sally, an experienced agent for the CIA, and Irina, a new hire for the typing section, and how they are involved in this book.

There are spies, international travel, horrible tactics by those in power, and love.  I enjoyed the story, and was interested in the setting and the events!

The Secrets We Kept was published on 5th September 2019, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Lara Prescott on Twitter and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Penguin Random House.

Recent Reads: A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier

Posted on by Pam

My review:

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier is set in 1932 in Winchester.  Violet lost a brother and her fiancé in the Great War (World War I), and like so many women at the time, is single due to the huge amount of young men who died in the war.

She moves to Winchester, escaping her mother’s home, and joins a group of women who embroider the cushions and kneelers in the cathedral.

Violet finding her feet, the group of women and World War II on the horizon is all part of this story, which I really enjoyed.  The history of Winchester is part of the story, and was very interesting.

A Single Thread was published on 5th September 2019 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Tracy Chevalier on Twitter and her website.

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

Recent Reads: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane is set in America, and is the story of two families, who live next to each other, a traumatic event happens, and then they live with the aftereffects over the following years.

Kate and Peter are friends from the two families, who are pulled apart by the events, but have a bond that pulls them together.

It has love, mental illness, living with trauma, forgiveness and is an emotional story.  I did enjoy it, but it is a hard read, with a very moving story line.

Ask Again, Yes was published on 8th August 2019, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Mary Beth Keane on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Penguin Michael Joseph.

Recent Reads: Brief Cases by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files)

Posted on by Pam

My review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Brief Cases is a collection of short stories from the Dresden Files, set in between books.

I found this book to be more consistently better than the other collection!  I felt it added depth to the main books, and you get to see things from other people’s point of view, including Molly!

Brief Cases was published on 10th June 2010, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Jim Butcher on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

Recent Reads: Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer is set in regency period, with Sylvester, Duke of Salford, used to his power and the deference others give to him, tell his mother that he’s planning to marry in the most dispassionate way. 

He ends up going to a country house to meet Phoebe, the granddaughter of his godmother.  Phoebe isn’t pleased with the idea, and found his behaviour during the previous year to be arrogant.

This is historical romance, tamer than Bridgerton, but very enjoyable, with heroines and heroes to cheer on, and plots to surprise you.

Sylvester was first published in 1957, but this is an updated edition, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

Georgette Heyer wrote a great many regency romances, and also detective fiction, and so here is a link for her on GoodReads.

If you’ve been enjoying The Bridgerton TV series or books, then I would highly recommend you try Georgette Heyer!

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

Recent Reads: For the Love of Mike by Rhys Bowen (Molly Murphy book 3)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

For the Love of Mike by Rhys Bowen is the third book in the Molly Murphy series, and as she had a little training from a private investigator in the last book, and has basically inherited his business.  She’s been chasing up some debts and dealing with current cases!  She also has the idea that people back in Ireland might have lost touch with family who have moved to the US, so she puts an advert in an Irish newspaper about being able to find people.

One of the new pieces of work that shows up is something that requires her to work undercover in a garment factory!

Having found out Daniel is engaged to a nice lady of society, she is determined to move on with her life.

This is shaping up to be a very enjoyable series, set in New York in the early 1900s, and I have been really enjoying the way the different communities are described!

For the Love of Mike was published on 9th December 2003, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Rhys Bowen on Twitter, Facebook and her website.

You can read my review of books in this series: 

Murphy’s Choice (book 1)

Death of Riley (book 2)

Recent Reads: Agatha Raisin and the love from hell by M.C Beaton (Agatha Raisin 11)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Agatha Raisin and the love from hell by M.C Beaton has Agatha and James getting married!  But does this mean that Agatha has everything she ever wanted?  In a word, no, as James is an arse.

We see some of the usual character like Sir Charles Fraith and Mrs Bloxby.

I’ve found these books to be a really enjoyable and consistent series, and that I listen to the audio book with Penelope Keith doing the reading, just makes it for me!

Agatha Raisin and the love from hell was first published in 2001 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)

Recent Reads: The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel is a story of interconnecting lives, and a ponzi scheme.  The story moves around in time, and from different points of view.

This sounds complicated, but it’s written well, with clear call backs, and distinct and interesting chacters!  I enjoyed the story, and the way the story unfolds.  This is a very light fantasy book, so if you’re not a fantasy fan, please don’t be put off this book!

The Glass Hotel was published on 6th August 2020, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Emily St. John Mandel on Twitter and her website.  You might recognise her name from Station Eleven, which was a book, and has been made into a tv series!

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