Audiobook Review - The Burning Chambers

• Title And Author: The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse
• Publisher: MacMillian
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed from local library via BorrowBox
• Length: 608 Pages or 17 Hours 12 Minutes

I’m not much of a historical fiction reader. I don’t know why, but I do tend to struggle with reading this and it makes me take longer to reading it (look at how long I’ve been reading Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare at the moment to prove my point). But the past few months (late last year), The Burning Chambers have been calling to me. So has a few other historical fiction novels. But when I saw this was on my library’s BorrowBox app, I decided to go for it and try upping the speed of the reader (something I don’t do normally, but I thought I would try as the reader, Hattie Morahan, has a slower tone to her reading so I thought me upping the speed to 1.25 and, on some occasions, 1.5 will be useful). 

The first is an epic historical saga, The Burning Chambers is set in Carcassonne 1562 where nineteen year old Minou receives a myserteous letter at her father’s bookshop: SHE KNOWS THAT YOU LIVE. 

Before she has time to decipher the message, a chance encounter with Piet, a young Huguenots convert on a dangerous mission . Meeting him changes her destiny and soon, the two find themselves wound together at Toulouse several months later when religious tensions between Huguenots and Catholics react boiling point…

And all the while, the dangerous mistress of Puivert is waiting, desperate to find a missing document and her eyes are slowly turning towards Toulouse and onto Minou and her family…

Audiobook Review - Murder is Easy

• Title And Author: Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed from local library by BorrowBox, though borrowed eBook from Amazon's Prime Reading
• Length: 274 Pages or 6 Hours 57 Minutes

One of the main Agatha Christies that I would like to read in 2020. I’m might not sure if I am going to succeed in my challenge, but ha-ho. Let me try! 

So, Murder is Easy is one of Agatha Christie’s lesser known novels (no Poirot or Marple here). Instead, we have a standalone that starts in a super “grabs you by the throat” way. Well… it did for me. 

Luke Fitzwilliam is on the train when he starts talking to an elderly woman, Miss Pinkerton. She’s going to London to go to Scotland Lane as she believes a serial killer is at work in her small English village of Wychwood. And she believes the local doctor might be next… 

Luke doesn’t believe her, so is shocked the next day when he reads about Miss Pinkerton’s death in the newspaper. She was a victim of a hit and run. A coincidence, surely? But it’s too much of a coincidence when, a few days later, Luke reads about the death of Dr Humbleby of Wychwood…

#re3 - Ark Angel

• Title And Author: Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz
• Publisher: Walker Books
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed from local library via BorrowBox
• Length: 344 Pages or 8 Hours 21 Minutes

Reread Time! I did warn you guys that this year, seeing as 2020 will be my tenth year of book blogging (October, I believe), I did want to do some more past reads, whether that be something I chatted on the blog before or something from my youth. And I have been failing that. Oh well… but not for long… 

I first read Ark Angel when it first came out in April 2005 (NO ONE DO THE MATHS TO FIGURE OUT MY AGE!) and I remember very little about it. But I always had plans to go back into the series and reread some of the earlier books in the series and read the books I skipped. Been thinking this on and off since I read Never Say Die back in 2017 (Really? 2017?!). So, this year, on a random moment, I looked at my BorrowBox app and saw the series on there, I went “Oh, I really want to relisten to the second Alex Rider, Point Blanc, as it’s my fave and the TV adaption is based on this”. And then, one day after I DNFed another audiobook (wasn’t in right mindset for it. Am planning to go back to it one day), I was skimming it as none of my audiobooks I bought appealed to me and I saw Ark Angel was available to download instantly (the others I had to request and wait). So, on impulse, I requested and listened. 

After the shock ending at the end of book 5 in the series, Scorpia (I REALLY need to reread this. It’s such a goodie!), Alex is recovering in hospital. But he’s not going to recover for long as the body in the hospital room next door is going to get kidnap, Alex does a switch and gets himself kidnapped instead. Eco-terrorists Force 3, led by Kasper, are gunning for the boy’s father, Nikolei Drevin, one of the world’s wealthiest developers and the man who is single-handedly funding the first luxury outer-space hotel, Ark Angel. Alex manages to escape and, as a thank you for saving his son’s life, Nikolei offers Alex a holiday to rest, relax and becoming friends with his son, Paul…

But the more time Alex spends with Nikolei, the more he feels uneasy around him. Something’s not quite right, and Alex might not be out of the spying game like he hoped…

eBook Review - The Case of the Drowned Pearl

• Title And Author: The Case of the Drowned Pearl by Robin Stevens
• Publisher: Puffin 
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 96 Pages

HAPPY BELATED WORLD BOOK DAY!!! How are we all doing? Recovering from our book hangovers? 

I’m still, at the time of writing this, reading my current BEAST of a book (don’t ask, it’s LONG so am audiobooking like heck at the moment), but I wanted to do a tiny write-up of The Case of the Drowned Pearl, a mini-mystery written especially for World Book Day 2020 (plus, this will tie fans over till the final book in the series is finally published later this year)!

While on a seaside holiday, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong (aka the Detective Society) among with friends (and rival detectives) George and Alexander discover the body of famous swimmer Antonia Braithwaite - aka The Pearl - on the beach. Everyone presumes she drowned by accident as she was training for the Olympics, but the Detective Society aren’t so sure. If she had drowned in the sea, why does she smell of soap and not seawater? 

It’s such a nice, little story. I could have easily devoured this in one sitting but forced myself to slow down and savour it. I really should read the series from the start and not drop in and out of it as I always enjoy myself when I read Daisy and Hazel. I might have to backtrack and read a few before the ninth (and final) novel in the series is released.

As it is a short story/novella, I did figure out who done it quite quickly (it’s rare that I do and I get it right!) and I do think this could have had an extra few pages, but I like the way this feels. It had all the trademarks of the novels I have read in the series, but there were one or two lines that characters said to each other that made me go “We are in the endgame now. Robin is setting things up for their last hooray!” and it was refreshing and slightly weird as I was expecting Daisy to tell this mystery (she normally narrates the short stories whereas Hazel narrates the novels) but both Hazel and Daisy told this story and it was interesting to see the two characters side by side and see how different and similar they are. 

I really should stop dipping in and out of this series and just go in with both feet. Which ones do you guys think I should try first? 

Fierce, Fearless and Free

BLOG TOUR TIME!

And we are dealing with the fierce, the fearless and the free in this blog tour (see what I did there?) with Fierce, Fearless and Free by Lari Don. Here, we have a collection of myths and legends from all over the world, where the princess didn't wait for the prince to save her. Rather, she saved herself...

I love a good myth and seeing as most myths I know of are gods acting like f***bois, it's nice to see cool, fierce and fearless women come to the forefront. And I am thrilled that Lari Don has come along onto the Pewter Wolf with this guest post for the tour!

So, before I hand you over to Lari, I just want to thank her for finding the time to write this post for me and for Faye from Faye Rogers PR for asking me to be involved in this tour!

Now, if you want to say hi to Lari, you can do so by either popping to her website - laridon.co.uk - or tweeting her at @LariDonWriter. And if you want to know more info about Fierce, Fearless and Free after reading Lari's guest post, you can check out Bloomsbury! Now, over to Lari!

eBook Review - The Cat Who Went Underground

• Title And Author: The Cat Who Went Underground by Lilian Jackson Braun
• Publisher: Headline
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 260 Pages

After the beginning of 2020, I seem to be reading a lot of thrillers and fantasy with a mystery element, haven’t I? So, after finishing my last physical read, Hideous Beauty by William Hussey, I wanted to read something on my kindle. Something light in tone but will ease me into reading more fun reads as I want March 2020 to be much lighter in my reading due to real life and lighter reads. 

So, when I saw this on my kindle, I went “Perfect!” A cozy murder mystery solved by cats! How on brand for me! 

In this, the ninth book in The Cat Who… series, Jim Qwilleran decides to go on holiday He’s going to spend the summer at his log cabin in Moose County. So, off he goes with his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Once there, Qwilleran realise that his cabin needs a bit of a patch up so hires a handyman. Only for him to vanish a few days later…

Audiobook Review - A Pinch of Magic

• Title And Author: A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook and Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof Gifted by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and Audiobook borrowed from local library via BorrowBox
• Length: 368 Pages or 8 Hours 44 Minutes

This is gonna be a tricky write-up to write. Bear with me as I was approved to read this Advance Reader Copy a year or so ago via NetGalley and I was super intrigued and excited over it as early rumblings were hugely positive and sounded right up my street. However, once approved, I was never in the mood to read it so, earlier this year, I decided to keep it for Believathon if/when it returns. And yet, when I saw the audiobook of this and the sequel, A Sprinkle of Sorcery, was on my library’s Audiobook app, BorrowBox, I requested and thought I would listen to it instead - something I’ve started to do on some of my ARCs I’m kindly received from publishers and I don’t have time to read them and give them my full attention.

Betty Widdershin is the middle sister of three, with Fliss being the oldest at 17 and Charlie at 6. They live with their granny above a pub on the island of Crowstone. Betty is itching to get off the island and see the world. she’s tired of granny’s watching, her mother’s death and her father being in prison. She wants to see the world. Shame that, when she tries on her thirteenth birthday, Granny breaks the news that they girls can never leave the island: they are cursed and if they live the island, they will die.

But Betty didn’t having it. She is going to figure out the way to break the curse and save her family. Shame that the Widdershin family isn’t known for their luck and things go quickly out of control…

Badass Devil Darling Ladies

BLOG TOUR TIME!!! And we are dealing with spies!

Devil Darling Spy is the sequel to the shortlisted Costa Children's Book of the Year 2018, Orphan Monster Spy, and we return to Sarah who, after her last mission, is back in Nazi Berlin, spying her way through champagne-filled parties. But not for long as she is thrown into a dangerous journey into  central Africa to stop the mysterious White Devil who is planning to unleash a deadly virus, using it as a weapon...

So... try not to watch or read the current news when reading this, ok?

I am thrilled to have Matt Killeen on the Pewter Wolf, chatting about the top 5 badass women in fiction. Because why the heck not!

Now, before I hand it over to Matt, I just want to thank him for writing this guest post in such a short time (I kept "oooh" and "erm"ing over what we wanted this post to be!) and to both Katarina and Jessica at Usborne for allowing me on this tour and helping me out!

Also, if you want to say hi to Matt, pop over to his Twitter at @by_Matt_Killeen and if you want to know more about Devil Darling Spy, you can pop over to Usborne for more info. Now, Matt's top 5 fictional badasses!