Nicki's book blog

The Vicarage Murder- Faith Martin- Crime Please note this book was first published as “AN UNHOLY MESS” under Faith Martin’s pen name JOYCE CATO. Monica is married to the local vicar. This is her second marriage her first husband having died and so she and her daughter moved to the countryside to be with Graham Noble. They live in a large house that has been converted recently to flats, some of which are still being finished. Monica has organised a garden party as a get- to -know -you to let the residents mingle in a relaxed atmosphere. What transpires is not at all relaxing. Many of the guests have secrets and plans. Who would want Margaret dead, even if she was one to look down her nose at you? Monica is well situated both in terms of personality and placement to catch snippets of interesting information which lead her to the truth. Faith again has developed wonderful characters and a plot that very quickly envelopes you. There is a warmth in these pag

The Summer of Going Topless by Liz Davies - romcom and a whole lot more Candice is single and has been for a while. Her husband left her for another woman a good while back and she is beginning to realise that some of the things he did whilst they were together she now needs to tackle on her own- like getting a new car. Her old one was hanging together by a thread (almost literally) and when she is lent a car by the garage she falls in love with “jelly bean” as she quickly christened it and starts to discover that she has been living in an isolated world since they split-. She has been living in the shadow of her marriage and is no longer a wife or a mother as her boys have both flown the nest and are independent.  She slowly and nervously spreads her wings and discovers that there is a world out there waiting to be grasped with both hands. I think many divorced women will find themselves nodding in agreement at Candice’s life. I for one have been

IF ONLY I COULD TELL YOU Hannah Beckerman - Womens fiction/P sychological Paperback released today **************** Oh boy! Hold on tight- a book that will spin you around and not put you down until the very end.Two sisters separated by a secret thirty years beforehand which only they know. Jess and Lily are now adults with children of their own.The cousins have never met and don’t even know of the others existence. They haven’t spoken since whatever it was happened and one shut the other out physically and verbally.. Their mother Audrey now has a terminal diagnosis and is living with Jess and her daughter and wants to find out why they are estranged before anything happens to her. They lead very different lives. Jess is a single mum and struggles day to day despite having a good job in TV. Lily is a successful marketing executive and is married to a millionaire businessman and has all the trappings that it brings- however her marriage is not on the best

A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World-Scifi/dystopian/post apocalyptic ****Paperback just released*********** Griz (so called as he was a grisly child and it stuck) lives in the “after”. After is the world after most of the population have died and only a few remain who are able to have children . Think Life of Pi meets Waterworld (Mel Gibson). Where civilisation as we know it no longer exists and those surviving have to cobble together things to either make or repair what little they have. There are no factories, no food, no medicines. Primitive basics in a crumbling world. Most live on islands as the sea is the safest place as his family found when they had a visitor to their island. Brand stole one of Griz’s dogs along with food and other items and drugged the family. Griz having a bad tooth didn’t eat so much, made the discovery and gave chase in his boat.this is the story of the chase and his discoveries in a world he knows little about. Ther

The Fault by Kitty Sewell-psychological thriller Sebastian is a structural engineer. He is renowned for designing the near impossible. His girlfriend Eva is a diver and they have recently moved in together. Sebastian wanted them to get married as they were in Dubai and cohabitation is illegal. Eva doesn’t want to and we know there is a reason but not what- a past relationship is hinted at but nothing more. Eva is troubled by something or someone in her past and wants to tell Sebastian but hasn't yet found the right moment. Sebastian’s sister Mimi lives with them and they are now in Gibraltar, Sebastian touting for a new project. Mimi has developed a relationship with  the man who has the flat below them. As he is in his forties and she is not quite eighteen, Sebastian is very wary and protective whereas Eva sees it for what it is- a blossoming friendship. Sebastian himself has his secrets. Mimi couldn’t go to Japan with him as for some reason he w

A Cruel Deception by Kim Booth - True crime This is the musings of a retired police detective set in the 1970-mid 1980’s. The main part of the story is about a couple who were duped into lending money to a woman purporting to be the illegitimate child of the Duchess of Argyll who needed the money before a large inheritance was sorted out. When DC Booth begins to investigate so well has the woman prepared her victims that she has warned them that “the police are likely to visit and it is just the wrath of the family trying to set things against her”. The rest of the story is about getting the couple to believe that she is a con artist and the investigation in order to press charges, interspersed with other interesting tales that PC Booth came across during the period or to demonstrate the criminal minds of the time. I think this book would appeal to an older age group who remember the period- a time of less mobility and certainly no mobile phones.