Nicki's book blog

  The Girl Across the Wire Fence by Imogen Matthews- Historical fiction (WW2) Based on a true story this tells of bravery and so much more in Holland around 1941 in the midst of WW2. Franz is sixteen and has helped on his fathers farm for as long as he can remember. Most mornings his father goes to the prison to collect the potato peeling which they then use for the cattle. The prison is now a camp, Amersfoort Concentration Camp, run by the Germans. Many of the farm workers have either been conscripted by the Germans to work over the border or have fled in fear. Franz and his younger brother now go to the camp on their horse drawn cart to collect the peelings. Whilst there he chats to a prisoner , Theo, who longs to find out about his family and Franz hatches a plan- one that may put him and others in danger but means so much to the prisoners and their well being. This is the story of Franz, Theo and others who risked everything to give prisoners small letters from home and...

  The Babysitter by Gemma Rogers-psychological thriller   Brooke looks after Eden, a one year old, whilst her mother has some down time and is now resuming working from home. One day, on taking Eden to the park, Brooke is hit from behind on the back of the head. When she comes too, Eden is gone along with all of her things. For six months unbeknown to Ali and Eden’s father Christopher, Brooke has been meeting up with an ex boyfriend- part of her plan to be able to afford to leave home and buy her own place. When Eden is taken Brooke is shocked but knows that the person who took her will keep her safe. Can they be persuaded to bring her back so that neither they nor Brooke are part of the crime and that Brooke's plan, albeit financial ,has come to a rather sticky end? I really enjoyed this- its a fast paced read about far more than a missing child. Deception and lies to fund a gain and once a web is woven how ever more tangled it may become. A brilliantly built tension and...

  The Couple Upstairs by Shalini Boland- psychological thriller Nina and her boyfriend Zac are just moving into a flat that they have purchased. They have been together five years and feel the time is right to stop renting and put down some roots for the future. Zac is self-employed as a plumber and Nina has her own fashion business funded by a local entrepreneur who has a manager James  who keeps an eye on things. On moving in the neighbours all appear friendly. The couple upstairs Chris and Vanessa appear with a bottle and cake to welcome Nina and Zac. The next day both of them are unwell and wonder if it's a bug going around or something that they ate. Nina hears Chris frequently shouting and what sounds like furniture moving however Vanessa is very quiet and says very little and won’t be drawn.Nina holds a product party to further her business and when the lights go out and a broken switch is found, she wonders if someone is against her. Alternate chapters tell of...

  The Abberley Beach Murders -D.E White-  Crime  DC Dove Milson is attacked along with a man in a car park which appears at first sight to be random. She is then called in, on her return to work, on what appears to be a quadruple murder- four people in an escape room below a pier that has filled with sea water and drowned them. The water safety release has been stopped with a bung and there doesn't appear to be any immediate connection between the victims so why had they broken in and who murdered them?  I enjoy this series, ( each one stands alone bk 1-Glass Dolls bk 2- The Ice Daughters ) as they are wonderful, enjoyable, easy reads. The characters come alive on the pages and the plots are good and solid and capture the imagination. Alternate chapters give us a perspective from an unknown point of view, adding to the tension. Twists and turns along the way keep the pages turning in a well thought out intriguing plot line. A highly entertaining, gratifying read...

  Seeing Other People- Mike Gayle- women's fiction Joe is happily married to Penny and they have two small children. Joe works as a journalist at a newspaper and has sadly been passed over for promotion- something their finances could have done with. Joe is chatting to an intern who is very taken with his book- his one and only story so he says. He wakes up to find himself in bed with Bella, and only hazily remembering being mugged , he thought for his phone. He is mortified and legs it. Six months later Bella has moved on and a new intern has arrived. When Penny takes Joe out for lunch to have some together time, he is mortified to bump into Bella. After the incident he has been getting terrible nightmares which he put down to stress and overwork, only now are they beginning to ease. Joe is seeing his dead ex-girlfriend who is “helping” him through this. Joe wonders if he has lost the plot but does take some of Fiona's advice, after all he has few others to talk to about i...

  The Secret Keepers Daughter- Samantha King-Psychological literary fiction Holly lives with her husband and their two children. The older one Marley, seven, has become rather withdrawn and Holly is trying to find out what is the root cause of this. Is it that the house is rather a mess as Holly has been rather busy and at times struggles as she has a heart condition or is Marley going through something else as she appears to have secrets? Holly sets up a box where Marley can post her thoughts or worries to see if she can find out more. Alternate chapters take us back to when Holly was a child and another girl Amy came to live with them quite suddenly. The book begins by Holly being taken to hospital remembering everything.  This is one of those reads that you just have that feeling that there is something amiss but can't quite put your finger on it. I liked Holly and felt that she had been put through a lot growing up and even as an adult was putting everyone else first ...

  The Copycat by Charlotte Barnes- Crime/police procedural  (#DI Melanie Watton book 1) A young woman has been found murdered in a place where several years ago there were other murders. trouble is the perpetrator of those crimes was killed in prison whilst serving his sentence by a relative of one of his victims. When DI Melanie Waton and her team take a closer look at the latest victim her search history shows that she has been researching these crimes herself. Her friends were practising dressing up for halloween and Jenni was to play the victim- the victim of what or whom no one knows. She is seen to be wandering around the town away from the main roads, something somewhat unusual. When a boy goes missing from the same school, who is after them and why and is the third one of the group now in mortal danger? I really enjoyed this, it was a wonderful relaxing read. A well thought out plot masterfully put together and characters that came alive on the pages. By the end I...