Murder Month 2023 - The Holiday Home

So, February's reading plan was a bit of a car crash. Mainly because my brain didn't want to read what you guys voted for and, at the same time, I was quitting a lot of reads or, if I did stay and finish them off, I was very "Meh" over it. And it felt like I still was in a crime reading frame of mind, rather than going to fantasy and teen, which is my reading bread and butter. Because of this, March is going to be the blog's "Murder Month". I've done this in the past, where I do a theme month of focusing on crime/thriller stories. And I have a good few on my radar that I was to devour before the Easter blog holiday (and I have an idea for a themed reading month for April as well (more about that after my Easter blog break). 

But let's start this murdery month off which a review and let's go with a thriller author I discovered last month and am slowly devouring...

Title and Author: The Holiday Home by Daniel Hurst

Publisher: Bookouture

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof and Audiobook gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Two couples go away to a remote cabin in Scotland. The wives have known each other since Sixth Form and the husbands barely get along. But a holiday away will do wonders, right? So when one of the wives overhears something that she shouldn't have, it starts a chain reaction which will end with no all of them coming home alive...

Shocktember 2021 - The Stalker

Another thriller I listened to at the end of July but pushed my write-up to now. I was actually in two minds of whether to write this and post in August (Summer of Love) or push till September (more thriller month) as, while a thriller, it does star a newly married couple. Hang on, let me get the info up and you’ll see what I mean...

Title And Author: The Stalker by Sarah Alderson

Publisher: Avon

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher in exchange for honest review/reaction while Audiobook’s borrowed from local library via BorrowBox app. 

Laura and Liam are a newly married couple and, after pushing their honeymoon back several months after the sudden death of Laura’s mother, the couple go to a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Just the two of them. Pure bliss. Except they discover the tiny island has a tragic history. Maybe that’s why they get the feeling that they’re being watched? But it’s not until they wake up one morning to discover something scratched into one of the windows that they realise that their stalker wants to do them harm and won’t stop...

Shocktember 2021 - Truly Devious

I knew when I decided to finally, finally, read/audiobook Truly Devious back in late July (I pushed to September due to me wanting August to be quite light and romantic reading...) that was I was going to do the series (this, originally, was meant to be a trilogy so on this front, I mean Truly Devious, The Vanishing Stair and The Hand on the Wall. I am intrigued over the newest, standalone instalment, The Box in the Woods, but in two minds if I should buy/read this. Let me do these three and then I’ll, then, decide...). Mainly because I own all three but, also, I knew that the main mystery of the series – the identity of Truly Devious and the unsolved kidnappings and possible triple murder that rocked Ellingham Academy in 1936 – was going to be an overarching theme for the trilogy.

Oh shoot, hang on. Let me get the basic info and and tell you about Truly Devious. Then we can dive into this!

Title And Author: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Publisher: Harper360/Katherine Tegen Books

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof bought & Audiobook borrowed from local library via BorrowBox app.

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont, where the best and brightest students attend, created by a tycoon who believed learning should be a game. But that's not why the school is famous. In 1936, the tycoon's wife, three year old daughter and one of the students vanished. The only clue was a poison pen letter-style riddle from someone calling themselves Truly Devious. It's one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in North America. Now, in the modern day, true crime aficionado Stevie Bell is about to attend the school and she wants to solve the crime. And Truly Devious doesn't like that...

Shocktember 2021

I don't seem to do TBR stacks well, I've noticed. If I make a list to read five books in a certain order, I will do well for the first two books, then I will do completely off my TBR list. But if I do a theme, I seem to be more likely to stick to it. 

Plus, I've been in a mood lately to read certain genres. Last month, I went very hard into romance, mainly MM, and while I have a few more to read this month (one is for a blog tour so might need to stop what I am doing to read that one!), I've had an itch to read another genre for September. A genre I enjoy reading in but I don't go in often. Yes, that genre of crime and thrillers. 

Yes, my Murder Month is back. But, I didn't want to call it that. I had a list of ideas but nothing fitted: Suspect September? Suspension September? Stabbing September? Cyandie September? But nothing fitted, so I did my normal thing and asked Twitter. And while a few of you guys had good ideas, I went for this interest because, you know, LIBRARIANS!!!

Shocktember

— Mrs Baird (@StNiniansLib) August 20, 2021

 

So, WELCOME TO SHOCKTEMBER! My reading month of crime and thriller books. Now, I have a few titles in mind that I would like to read. This goes over a mix of subgenre (well, that is the plan). However, I am not sure how many books I am going to be reading/audiobooking this month because... well... I changed jobs. 

Yes, I have a new job! I'm writing this after my first week at the new place (I should be settled by the time you all read this, in theory) so the amount I can read/audiobook has gone down due to drive to/from work, lunch breaks and me trying to find my feet. So, this might be a bit of quiet month but oh, I have reading plans! I have one or two titles I would like to try to read this month (remember, this isn't a strict TBR so might do one or two non-crime/thriller titles due to preorders/blog tour I agreed several months back!) but, will I get round to them... we shall see...

Oh, wanna see some titles I would like to try and get round to this month?

#MurderMonth - Have I Failed?

I feel like I failed Murder Month.

I can't believe I typed those words and that am still typing. But I have said I would try and be more truthful on my blog and I feel it would be wrong to lie to you, dear reader. So, let me explain why I feel like I failed this themed month.

I know I haven't. I been reading/audiobooking stories that have a crime/thriller/mystery element within them since March. So I haven't failed. I worked my backside off to make this month the best I could try to be. And I tried really hard.

But after reading The Ersatz Elevator and Dead to the World, I just hit a wall. I hit a wall where I wanted to read, but I didn't want to read another murder. So, I took a tiny break. I read Sarra Manning's London Belongs To Us (which I am review in a few days time). This wasn't part of the plan, but I needed a break. I needed something light and fluffy. And I read this very fast so I thought "OK, I've had my reward. Now, I wanna read this book/that book/etc..."

And I have one very long list of books I want to read. I have them on Pinterest. I mean, look!

See. I had books. Loads. I had a plan of a few I wanted to read because other bloggers told me they were amazing. 

But I just couldn't settle. Nothing I picked up kept me. I started with Career of Evil, but stopped after 50 or so pages as I struggle with Robert Galbraith. Don't ask - it's a weird complex reason. Ok, not that - what about The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason. Couldn't get past first 3 chapters. Ok, try... nope. What about... nope. 

Nothing I could settle on kept my attention. I don't think I am in a reading slump as I started listening to the audiobook version of Chasing the Stars by Marlorie Blackman and I became hooked on that. 

Ok, I hear you dear readers say, maybe you hit a wall and had your fill on crime. What do you think you failed this themed month? 

Because I had this idea that this month was going to be filled of reviews and ideas on crime books. I wanted to push myself and to give you new, exciting, different stories. And I don't feel I have. 

Because of this, I feel like I failed. 

Ok, I know I haven't failed. I know this. No one is saying "You failed, Andrew!". Only I am doing that and I know I shouldn't. I shouldn't. Blogging is a hobby - a full time job of a hobby - but I want to do the best I can for this blog and for you guys. 

Ok, am going to stop now. Yes, I feel like I failed but I haven't. I'm going to keep trying to do the best  I can for this blog and, hopefully, keep enjoying myself. Once the fun is gone, that's when am going to stop blogging. 

But until then... 

Murder Month #re3 - Dead to the World

Yes, this is still a Murder Month post. I never said anywhere that I would't go back and reread/relisten to a story if the mood takes me. And you can blame Megan from Reading the Days Away for me going back to Dead to the World.

Now, if you haven't read my first review of Dead to the World, you can click on here and have a snoop. This is a relisten (aka a #re3) so I won't go too far in depth with the story.

Instead, let's talk about my experience with this.

I forgot how addictive Charlaine Harris can be. With Fool Me Once audiobook, it took me nearly 2 weeks to listen to just under 4 hours. With Dead to the World, it barely took me 3 days. I just got hooked into this world and the way Johanna Parker read Sookie. For me, the reader is quite important for an audiobook and Johanna just got the story.

However, the story itself might not come under Murder Month. There is a mystery with Sookie's brother, Jason, vanishing and while the mystery does take place over the course of the book, it's really Sookie's reaction and struggle to cope.

But with a memory-loss vampire, Eric, needing her protection and help, it doesn't take much of Sookie's mind as she believes the witches who hexed Eric are the same people who kidnapped Jason so the stories do run parallel until the end.

This is a fun read, and I do want to read more Sookie Stackhouse, but after trying (and failing) Fool Me Once audiobook, I just wanted something fun. And I did. It was good. Now I feel the itch to read/audiobook another Charlaine Harris *eyes the Midnight series (actually, I reviewed the first audiobook in the series, Midnight Crossroad, a few years ago...)

Murder Month - The Ersatz Elevator

I didn't think I could slip this book into this month. Which I was fine with. But when I researched this series randomly on Wiki, it said this series comes under Mystery (as well as gothic fiction, absurdist fiction & steampunk) so here it is.

After the events of The Austere Academy, the Baudelaire children are moved to 667 Dark Avenue to live with their new guardians, Jerome and Esme Squalor. But Violet, Klaus and Sunny know that Count Olaf will find them and will try to steal their fortune. But with friends in dire danger and no way to save them, what can the Baudelaire orphans do?

This is an odd book. The Austere Academy is the book in the series that really kicks off the long running mystery that the series has, and The Ersatz Elevator hints to little titbits that might solve the mystery of not only the mysterious deaths of the Baudelaire's parents, but also to Lemony Snicket himself.

But this is a book that falls on old patterns (if it aren't broke, don't fix it, right?) and while this is good for a younger reader (target audience is middle grade), for someone in their very VERY late 20s (I heard that snort of laughter), it feels a bit repetitive.

But, weirdly, I like this book a lot more than The Miserable Mill and The Austere Academy. It felt a little meatier, and because of the new developing mystery, I wonder if this is why. Because now it feels like the series is going somewhere and is adding new twists and characters that makes me think Lemony Snicket knows what he's doing, rather than just repeating the plot...

If you're a fan of the series, you can't skip this one. It introduces characters and ideas that, I hope, are important to the series. But if you haven't read this series, start at the beginning with The Bad Beginning and see how you go...

Murder Month - Mystery and Mayhem

When I first heard of this collection of short stories, I was intrigued. Plus, this was when I actually started planning Murder Month (as in getting books/ebooks/audiobooks at the ready) so when I saw this on NetGalley, I couldn't resist requesting and holding for the best. To my surprise, I was approved (I'm not great at NetGalley books) so I started within a 48 hours of approval.

12 authors. 12 short stories. 12 mysteries to solve. Can you solve the crimes before the detectives do...?

Am going to keep this short as I don't want to go too in-depth as this is a collection of short mystery stories and I didn't make that many notes of these, but this feels perfect for middle-grade (oh, how I dislike this term! No idea why but I do) readers who enjoy reading mysteries.

And as this is a collection of stories, this is a cool way for readers to discover new authors and series (I believe three of these stories are connected to book series, published by Egmont and other publishers).

However, as this is a collection of short stories, this is a mixed bag. Some stories will grab your attention and others won't. It will depend on you and your tastes - some stories will just click with you, while others won't.

This sat in the middle of the road with me. Some of the stories just worked and I devoured, while others I just skimmed. But this is the nature of story collections.

Murder Month - Lying About Last Summer

As soon as I heard this at the Scholastic Blogger Brunch, I knew I had to read it as soon as it came out, and with the thriller vibes I got off it when it was being described, I knew I had to read it sometime within this month.

Last summer, Skye's sister died. Her parents think sending Skye to a holiday camp for beggared teens will help her move on with her life. Move forward.

And, at first, the camp's not the bad. Yes, there are some people there that Skye dislikes and some of the activities remind Skye too much of her sister. But then the text messages start. The texts that can't be possible. As they sent on an messaging app, in a private group. And only two people know the passcode for the app. One is Skye and the other is her sister...

Is her sister talking to her? Is she really dead? Or is someone at the camp playing a cruel and sick game with Skye?

As you guys are aware, this is my Murder Month where I read books that have a crime/thriller/mystery element to them. And while this book does have a thriller/mystery element to it, what this book does really well is explore grief. Grief is a subject that some books, I have found, tackle very badly. Not all, but some. And as someone who has gone through grief/is going through grief (depending on how you look at me/it), it's refreshing to see a book that looks at grief and shows that every person goes through this very differently. We have several characters who are going through this and each character is going through it or is coping with it differently. This is refreshing to see.

The book itself is very interesting. There's something addicted about this book, and I can't put my finger on what it was that made me speed through. The writing was strong and the mystery over the mystery texter made me suspect every person about the camp. No one was safe from the "Who Doing This?". When the truth came out, I was surprised over it. I didn't see it coming.

This book, while keeping me on the edge of my seat, did have one or two problems. There was one storyline that I saw coming, and was surprised over how the characters missed it. Yes, I get they (and us) are caught up with the mystery texter, but I couldn't help getting annoyed over how not aware they were. Because of this, I wasn't the biggest fan of the final few pages. It could have been a little bit more meatier, I feel. Either more in depth or just an extra few pages.

I did find this an addictive read, and I can't wait to see what Sue writes next.

Murder Month - The Leaving

I remember Bloomsbury asking if I wanted to read this, and there were two reasons why I went yes. The first was the tag line - Six were taken. Five came back" and the second was the fact that this book was described as a must for We Were Liars fans. Even the author, E. Lockhart, wrote a tiny piece for this book on the cover (you might be able to just see it...)

Eleven years ago, six five-year-olds were taken without a trace. But eleven years has passed and five of them are back. They're sixteen and they are... fine. They are dumped in a playground in the dead of night and the five have to find their way home.

Scarlett returns to a house with a mother she barely recognised. She has no memory of what happened to her the past eleven years. But she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett too - but both can't remember anything from the past eleven years. They remember nothing.

And they or any of the others remember Max - the sixth victim. He hasn't come back and everyone want answers. Including Max's sister, Avery.

This is an interesting thriller. I sped through this and found it full of twists and "Wait! What?" moments. Once I found my stride (which was very quickly), I couldn't put this book down. It remembered me very strongly of We Were Liars. Both books tackle the issue of memory and ask "Can we trust our own memory?" and "Should we trust the narrators?" - something both authors do really well.

The story is told from 3 points of view: Scarlett, Lucas and Avery. Both Scarlett and Avery have unique storytelling techniques while Avery is the most straight-forward. This is the show the difference in what the characters went through.

And it was interesting to have each character see the aftermath of the disappearances and the re-appearances for themselves, even though Avery lived through it. It makes the characters interesting and complex.

The mystery was gripping. I really wanted to know why Scarlett, Lucas and the others couldn't remember what happened to them and why they only seem to remember one image. This is what kept me going forward. I had to know! And with Tara adding more and more twists, it more I wanted to know why.

I do have problems. Two, to be precise.

The first was how certain elements of the book were tackled. These kids have been missing for eleven years and yet, barring the start of the book, the media seems to nowhere to be seen. No one had to deal with journalists banging on their front door, trying to break it, phone hacking. There was very little of something I am sure the news outlet would crave. Plus, some characters acted not how I expected when their child returns to them after eleven years. Tiny elements just felt off and not true, somehow.

The second is the resolution. It's got to split readers. Some will get it and understand. Others will not and maybe feel checked. I'm somewhere in the middle. It makes sense to me and I get it, but I wish there was something more to it. I feel like it missed something. Maybe a reread is in order so I can see if I missed clues! But like I was saying, the ending is very much a Marmite ending - you either going to love it or hate it.

Though I sense this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, I found this a gripping read and believe fans of We Were Liars will devour it!

Murder Month - DNFing Fool Me Once

If you know me or my blog well, you guys know that I hate DNFing books/ebooks/audiobooks. Hate it so much. And with this themed Crime/Thriller month, I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to DNF anything. So, the fact I DNF an audiobook I got for review is just... well... makes me feel like an awful book blogger.

But, like I have said in the past, audiobooks are my experiment reads. I always seem to want to try new things out on audiobooks in the past few months so it's lethal when Leanne from Midas emails me about upcoming audiobooks from Audible...

I have never read Harlan Coben before. But after I read the synopsis of Fool Me Once and watched the book trailer for it, I was very intrigued. It just sounded right up my street.

For those not aware of this book, Fool Me Once, Maya has just buried her husband. She has a two year old daughter and she suffers from PTSD from her days of being special ops. So when a friend gives her a nanny cam, Maya just takes it to please her friend. But early one morning, Maya checks the nanny cam, and sees something that isn't possible. Her dead husband playing with their daughter...

This screams that I would have liked it. A thriller where you can't be sure what's fact and fiction. Something that screams twists and turns. So, where did it go wrong? Why, after nearly four hours, I went "I have to stop"?

It's a mix of things, which reminds me that even though I like a genre, I'm not going to enjoy reading all the books within that genre.

The first thing is that I am not use to a slow thriller. I like my crime/thriller books to have pace, to have a hook. And this felt lacking. It was too slow paced for me.

Because of the pacing, I found myself getting bored very easily and had to push myself very hard to return to the story. This was my huge problem - I need a reason to return and that wasn't there.

I probably now sound nit-picky, but Maya, our lead... I had huge problems with her. I see what Harlan was trying to do. He wanted Maya to be an unreliable lead - like what we see in The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. He wanted us to mistrust her judgment. But I had issues with her. She wasn't likeable and I never warmed to her. And I never thought "Is this real?" as I think the story was told in third person. If it was told in first person, I think it would have kept my attention for longer.

Also, there were times I couldn't help but wonder. Did the author write this story with a male lead and then, either very late in the writing or in the edits, decided to change the lead's gender?

I have to say this again: I listened to under 4 hours worth so this isn't a review. So, why, WHY are you writing this post, I hear you cry? Because I don't want to lie and go "Look at all the cool crime books I read". I want to show you guys that I tried to be braver - try and push myself as a reader and blogger - and sometimes, it worked and otherwise, it didn't.

And that's not a bad thing. Some stories will grab you by the throat and make you sped through to the end, and others won't. That's not a bad thing, dear reader. It's a good thing to try new things and there's no shame in reading the first few pages and going "Actually, this isn't for me."

Murder Month - The Blue Violet

And now for something a little lighter in this month of murder, we jump into the world of Wells and Wong in this short eNovella, The Case of the Blue Violet. Instead of being a case of murder, this short is a story about a letter...

Daisy Wells, President of the Detective Society, writes this tale where one of the Big Girls in their school - Deepdean School for Girls - asked Daisy and Vice-President of the Detective Society, Hazel Wong, to help over a very puzzling romantic mystery. Which should be easy - Daisy and Hazel have solved three murders, after all...

I have to admit that this is quite short and is a filler for the series (this takes place between the third and fourth books in the series, First Class Murder and Jolly Foul Play). So fans of the series will like this a lot as it's a quick teaser to fill the time between books.

What fans will like about this short is that, while the mystery is gentle and perfect for younger readers (and after all the very adult-heavy crime I have been reading - this was hugely refreshing!), but this tale is told from Daisy's point of view, and her voice is hugely different from Hazel, who writes the novels. She's much lighter compared to Hazel, less serious and is more impulsive. I can see what Robin Stevens wrote this short over mysterious love letters from Daisy's point of view, rather than Hazel's, who is more suited for the seriousness of murder. Daisy's voice would be far too jarring.

This is probably a good taster for new fans who want to try and see if they like this series. And this is very much a fan story.

However, if you are an older reader, you might find this far too light and fluffy. But you might want to check out the series as this does tackle murder and the plots are fiendishly clever. I have two to read and I can't wait to get start.

Murder Month - Little Boy Blue

Second audiobook for the month of Murder May! I warned you guys on Twitter I was trying to work hard on this for the past few months! And because of this, I must thank Leanne from Midas PR for giving me this audiobook (via Audible) for review.

In this, the fifth DI Helen Grace series, DI Helen Grace and her team are called to investigate a murder at a BDSM club. It's obvious that this was't a sex game gone wrong. But when the victim is revealed to Helen, the case becomes too close to home and, hiding her connection to the victim, Helen must try and keep her head to investigate this case.

But with in-fighting between two of her officers, a boss that might have an unhealthy obsession with her, and a killer who seems to be one step ahead, can Helen solve this case? Or will this be her fall from grace?

Like I said in the previous paragraph, this is the fifth book in the series. A fact I didn't know this I was a good way into the story. And while you can read this as a standalone up to a point, this book does have connections to the previous books in the series so you might want to go back and start with Eeny Meeny and work your way through.

This story is a weird beast. There were elements of this I liked and elements I had serious problems with.

Let's start with the positives. This book was fast paced and moved at a good speed. The chapters are short - very James Patterson - and this felt like something was happening, even when you were going "Why are we reading about this?", even though you suspected that this was going to effect the ending of the book. It had a level of grit and it showed that the author worked hard to get details right and I haven't read a book that tackled BDSM before (it's always touched upon in some crime books I have read/watched but never tackled properly).

The negatives I will try and keep equally brief. I didn't like most of the characters and their attitudes. Most I felt didn't feel "right" and those that were, I felt were pure backstabbers - not something I felt would represent the Police in a respectable light. For example, there was one character who tried to do something to another (who fought back!). Later, out of pettiness, the first character decides to do something that could and will destroy the other character, and I found this unforgivable.

There were times I fear the story became predictable and if you are a seasoned crime reader, you might suspect where the plot might be going.

Also, I wasn't the biggest fan of the reader in this story. I'm not sure why - nothing wrong with Elizabeth Bower's reading. But I seem to prefer her when she was reading faster-paced scenes. When the pace slowed, I lost connection with the story.

But my main issue was that this book is a two-parter. The continuation of this story arc will go into the next book - Hide and Seek (out this coming September) - and I feel that this is a very cheap trick. Why wasn't these two stories written as one longer novel? And with the way this book ended, I can't see any way the author can undo the damage he's caused to his characters. I fear he might have boxed himself into a corner...

But, like I said before, I dived into this without knowing this was the fifth book in the series so I might be missing a trick that the author has pulled off in previous books...

If you are a fan of MJ Arlidge or the other DI Helen Grace books, you will devour this. Not come across this author before (barring Six Degrees of Assassination), I would say go back to the series start with Eeny Meenie and take it from there. But be warned, this series will not be everyone's cup of tea nor is it for the faint-hearted.

Murder Month - 15th Affair

Let's start this month with a bit of a bang, shall we?

15th Affair is the fifteen volume in the Women's Murder Club series and it follows Detective Lindsay Boxer who is now juggling married life, being a mother and her career within Homicide within San Francisco Police Department. But life can change in an instant, as Lindsey knows.

When she is called to the Four Seasons Hotel, Lindsey is shocked at what she sees. A man in one hotel room, shot at close range with no form of ID on him. In the next room, a young man and woman are shot as well, but they are surrounded by high tech surveillance equipment. Who were they spying on? And with a house maid dead down the hall, the murders are connected. But how?

But before long, the case takes two shocking twists. How far will Lindsey and her fellow Women's Murder Club members will to go to the truth?

As you guys know if you follow my blog for a while, I have a weird love/hate relationship with James Patterson. I think this is because I read quite a bit of him when I was a teenager and after a while, I just had my fill and it's taken me quite a while to return to him, and even then, it's seems to be the Women's Murder Club that I'm happy to return to.

Which is nice as 3rd Degree, the third book in the Women's Murder Club series, was my first James Patterson novel.

As someone who is rediscovering this series, I enjoyed myself with this story. I was on the edge of my seat while listening and I sped through this. It was a fun thriller, a story I could have read while on the beach one summer's day.

But if you are a James Patterson fan, you might not be blown away with this plot. It's very much sticks to the James Patterson's brand with short, punchy chapters and a plot that will feel the same as other plots within this series or in any of his others. Plus, there is one tiny plot twist that might make readers go "That's one step too far..." It's like a repeat of the Yuki plot within Unlucky 13 (oh, that plot was a jump the shark moment, wasn't it?)

Another thing is that this story very much stays with Lindsey. This is Lindsey's story and the other members of the Women's Murder Club are very much supporting characters. With the story and the direction it takes, it makes sense to focus on Lindsey but I like the other characters and feel that a little more screen time wouldn't have hurt that much.

If you want a fun, fluffy thriller, this series is the place to go. Just don't expect it to get heavy and intense. That's not the James Patterson way.

Murder Month - Why Is The Crime Genre So Popular...?

I have to ask this question, seeing as this is a themed month where I read a lot of crime/thriller books. So, why is the crime/thriller genre so popular?

It's everywhere you look. Go into your local supermarket and look at the book charts. You will see that, barring a few books from other genres, crime and thriller books dominate. At the moment, James Patterson's latest rules. If you watch/listen to soap operas, nothing get the ratings up and viewers jaws hitting the floor than a good murder mystery. Eastenders and Hollyoaks is still running their most talked about storylines (Bobby Beale killing his sister, Lucy, and his family hushing it up in Eastenders and the Lindsey being the Gloved Hand Killer with former serial killer terror, Silas, returning to Hollyoaks) with Neighbours and Home and Away both have whodunnit plots running with no end in sight. If you read/listen/watch the news, shocking and unexplained deaths/murders/crime is usually given top billing. There are TV channels that solely show crime/thriller programmes (Alibi, 5USA and, up to a point, Universal Channel and Sky Living) and TV shows that have a crime/thriller/mystery element to them always get high ratings (Poirot, Marple, Shetland, Vera, Lewis, How To Get Away With Murder, CSI, Broadchurch, Elementary, Scandal, Bones, Rizzoli and Isles, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries to name a few). 

So, why is this genre so popular? 

I'm not going to come out and say "I know why!" and explain. I can guess, and with this, I have two possible ideas. Maybe more as I type but let's start with these two. 

The first is because we, as humans, are fascinated by the evil that is to take a life. I believe, no matter how good we say we are, we all have the potential to commit a murder or any form of evil. We watch/read/listen to the stories and wonder to ourselves how someone "normal" could do that. How could they kill someone or a group of people and then carry on as if nothing has happened? And how far do we need to be pushed before we do that? What would cause us to harm another? We watch TV shows or read crime books and examine characters and watch them unravel as they are confronted by the police or someone who is investigating the crime. Did they do it to protect someone they loved? To keep a secret hidden? Or for a reason we just can't understand? Or do they just enjoy the power of taking another's life? Authors such as Ruth Rendell, PD James and Kathy Reichs look at what makes us human and push us to ask us how far would we go? We are fascinated with the darkness that lives inside each and every one of us. 

The second is, I think, a bit of a selfish reason. We want to be smarter than the person trying to solve the crime. Ok, bear with me on this one. When you watch TV crime show, where the crime is solved within that hour long episode, how many of us watch the first ten to fifteen minutes? Usually within hour long crime dramas, the first ten to fifteen minutes usually introduce viewers to the killer and viewers are waiting for the detective to clock on that it's them. This rule isn't a steadfast rule. In TV shows such as Rizzoli and Isles, this rule isn't usually introduced in more recent episodes/seasons. It's our vanity. We want to solve the crime faster and smarter than the people on the TV. 

It's the same with books. We read crime/thriller books and we are trying our damnest to be smarter, not only the detective in the book, but smarter than the author because we figured it out before the grand reveal. Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we get it wrong. And sometimes, the author pulls the rug from under us so fast, we don't know what happening till our heads hit the floor. Take Agatha Christie, for example. She is called the Queen of Crime, and with good reason. If you have read And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express or The Murder of Roger Ackroyd or see her play, The Mousetrap, how many of you can honestly say you saw those endings coming? 

A third reason for this is that it defines our fairytale-like belief that good triumphs over evil. With all the horror we know happens in our world, we want/need something to prove to us that good will win. When we read a crime book, we know from the off that the murderer will be caught and justice will be served. When we watch a soap opera such as Eastenders or Hollyoaks, we are watching, waiting for the moment when the truth is outed, the villains to be arrested and go the jail and everyone else to live a happy, safe life. 

But that isn't always the case. Sometimes, the villain is unmasked, but they don't get arrested or they hide the secret so well that only the viewers/readers know the truth. This is what happened in Karen Slaughter's Kisscut and Kathy Reichs's Monday Mourning. And how many murderers are they in soaps that we have "forgiven" because of one reason or another. 

My final reason (yes, this is my final reason, otherwise I could just keep going with this) is because it's safe and fun. We know that when we start reading a crime book or a crime TV show that the baddie will be caught in the end, good triumphs over evil and it makes us think "What if...?", but it's a safe way to look into this world. It takes us away from our own lives - where we worry about family, friends, pets, work, bills, etc - and we are thrown into a world that could be either very dark and scary   where someone is, seemingly, murder for no sensible reason and, the more we look into their lives the darker their world becomes. Or we enter a lighter, cozy world where someone dreadful has died and it's that sweet old lady who drinks tea and write murder mystery novels who solves the crime (although, why the police allow her to enter a crime scene is anyone guess?!). 

There are loads of reasons why you love watching a good murder in that awesome TV drama that everyone is talking about. Or maybe that's why you really dislike that thriller book that your grandad gave you. This seems to be question with a lot of answers, some answers meaning more to one person than another. But crime/thriller books/TV shows/movies/podcasts/radio shows are still hugely popular. And they are not going anyway... 

Lying About Last Summer - Swimming Pools

I am thrilled to start this Murder Month with a guest post from Sue Wallman, debut author to thriller Lying About Last Summer. I should be reading this later this month and with praise comparing this book to 13 Reasons Why and We Were Liars, this sounds perfect for this month!

Last summer, Skye's sister died tragically and Skye hasn't been coping. Her parent decide sending her to a camp for troubled teens - it might help with her grief, they think. And for a while, Skye feels like she can move on, begin to come to terms with her lost. Until the text messages start. Texts from someone pretending to be her dead sister... The past has to be confronted, but what about the present danger...?

When Faye from Faye Rogers PR asked if I wanted to be involved in this blog tour (photo on the side if you wanna see who else is taking part!), I jumped at the chance. As soon as I heard of this book, I knew I had to read it! It sounds so dark and twisted, it sounded beyond perfect for me. Before I hand you over to Sue and why swimming pools are so important to herself and her debut, I must thank both Sue (@SWallman) and Faye (@FayeRogersPR) for taking time out for this tour!

Now, over to you, Sue!

Why swimming pools are important in Lying About Last Summer and to Sue

The idea for Lying About Last Summer started with a swimming pool. I’d done a writing workshop on setting/place workshop with author Lucy Christopher and I realised I really liked pools. Not the sort with chipped tiles, floating plasters and kids chucking things at your head. No. Beautiful outdoor ones, where the sun’s bouncing off the water and I’m the only one in it. 

As a starting point for my book, I liked the idea of a lovely pool in an idyllic summer setting where something bad happens. It’s something that will change my protagonist Skye for ever – her sister dies. A year on, Skye goes to a camp for bereaved kids at an activity centre where she tries to pretend she isn’t phobic about being in a swimming pool or lake. 

I love swimming but I wasn’t a good swimmer as a child. When I swam breast-stroke one of my legs had a weird twist. It still does. I was in my 20s when my cousin taught me to swim front crawl and suddenly there was a sport I actually liked. There’s something liberating about swooshing along rhythmically with my head underwater, where sounds are different, and I’m cut off from the real world. A few years back I developed an allergy to chlorine and it felt as if I had a permanent heavy cold, so I started swimming with a nose clip, forcing myself to get used to it even though for ages it felt as if I was drowning. 

Over the eight years I’ve been writing fiction seriously, I’ve spent hours in the pool fantasising about being published as I’ve swum my lengths. To have finally got there with Lying About Last Summer is an incredible feeling. 

Murder Month

AM BACK!!! DID YOU MISS ME?!

And I'm back with a themed month! Filled with crime, mystery, chills to thrills and, of course, a murder or two... 

It's going to be a weird month, but it should be fun. Hopefully. We shall see... 

Anyway, I wanted to give you a quick taste of some of the books I will be reviewing this month. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but here's a few titles you will see over the next month... 

So, yes. A little outside of my comfort crime zone (and the blog's), but hopefully, this month will get us to, hopefully, try out new genres. Yes, I know I read crime every now and then but I never sat and read crime so here I am, for the next month... 

Hopefully, I won't be driven off the genre for life but the end of the month. But you never know. Hopefully, this will be fun... right? RIGHT?! 

Hang on to your laptops/smart phone... this month is going to be interesting... And probably end with me saying...

Next Month...

This month, am going to try something a little different. I usually try themed month/yea as way to get my NetGalley eARCs or because it's about time to reread THAT series again (because WHY NOT! - And yes, am planning this again later this year... maybe...)

Well, I had this idea for a themed month for the past year now, but I kept putting it off due to one reason or another. But I think this month is the perfect month to do it so, this month is Murder Month May (Or Murder Month... I like this month. Easier to hashtag, no?).

Murder May is going to be (hopefully) a themed month where I am going to read or reread books/ebooks/audiobooks that either fit in the crime/thriller genre or have elements of crime, thriller or mystery.

Next month can go one of a few ways. Either...

... or...

...or...

...or even...

It, I hope, won't end like this...

... or this...

(Sorry Not sorry. I HAD to find a way to put them in this post! HAD TO!!!) 

Anyway, let's read murder together next month, hence the next two weeks off. So, my lovely readers, I hope you enjoy these few days of blog quiet, because when I come back... Happy reading. And remember...