Book Synopsis:

It’s 1951. In Europe’s post-war wreckage, the glittering Italian Riviera draws an eclectic cast of characters; lured by the glamour but seeking an escape.

Amongst them, two outcasts: Hal, an English journalist who’s living on his charm; and Stella, an enigmatic society beauty, bound to a profiteering husband. When Hal receives a mysterious invitation from a wealthy Contessa, he finds himself aboard a yacht headed for Cannes film festival.

Scratch the beautiful surface, and the post-war scars of his new companions are quick to show. Then there’s Stella, whose secrets run deeper than anyone’s ― stretching back into the violence of Franco’s Spain. And as Hal gets drawn closer, a love affair begins that will endanger everyone…

The Invitation is an epic love story that will transport you from the glamour of the Italian Riviera, to the darkness of war-torn Spain. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Victoria Hislop.

My Review:

The Invitation is definitely one of those books that takes you to another time and place.  I really felt like I was travelling through post war Europe with the characters, experiencing all the sights with them.  I now really hope to travel through Europe at some point and visit all the countries they did.

I loved the Countessa! I thought she was such a fantastic character, so full of life (despite her age), welcoming, friendly and a tad mischievous.  Her obvious care towards her guests and her meddling in their lives to increase their happiness, was lovely to read about.  Her antics often had me laughing out loud at times, especially when it wasn’t at first clear what she was up to and her devious schemes were gradually revealed.  All the characters have been affected by the war in different ways which was fascinating to read about, particularly as in their histories is mentioned a part of the war that i didn’t know much about.  All the characters go on a personal journey throughout the book and it was lovely to see how much they had changed towards the end.

The building relationship between Stella and Hal was brilliantly done and seemed very real.  Things seemed to happen at a natural time and pace for them and it wasn’t too over the top.  It would have been easy for the author to write the relationship a lot more like a Hollywood movie and I was very pleased that she resisted this urge and created a much more everyday relationship.  This is not to say that the relationship was boring, far from it! The many twists and turns and oppositions to their relationship kept the story very interesting.  I felt intimately involved, almost like I was a friend of the couple trying to look out for them, and wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next.  The relationship doesn’t dominate the story either, rather it is the group as a whole with their different backgrounds, experience of the war and how they interact with each other (often outside the class rules that were in place at the time) that makes the story a truly interesting one.  I found that I liked all of the characters individually, even Stella’s husband (who i felt sorry for), and I found i was very interested in discovering more about them and their history.

There is a twist towards the end which I didn’t see coming and helped move the book in a completely different direction to the one i was expecting.   I was very pleased with how it ended and thought it was a very appropriate ending for the book.

This is Lucy Foley’s second book, but it is the first I have read and I will definitely be reading more from her.  I believe her third book, Last Letters from Istanbul is available in March and I will very much be looking forward to reading it. If you are a fan of Victoria Hislop of Kate Morton you will very much enjoy this book.

Huge thanks to Ann Bissell and Harper Collins for my copy of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Author Information:

Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities. She then worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry – during which time she also wrote The Book of Lost and Found. Lucy now writes full-time, and is busy travelling (for research, naturally!) and working on her next novel.

Visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LucyFoleyAuthor and follow her on Twitter @lucyfoleytweets and Instagram @Lucy_F_Author. Find her on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7770523.Lucy_Foley.

I’m on the Blog Tour for Fatal Masquerade by Vivian Conroy today and am very lucky to have an exclusive extract to share with you! Fatal Masquerade is the 4th book in the Lady Alkmene series.

Book Information:

Lady Alkmene Callender has always loved grand parties, but when she receives an invitation to a masked ball thrown by Franklin Hargrove – oil magnate, aviation enthusiast and father of her best friend, Denise – she’s never seen such luxury. The estate is lit up with Chinese lanterns in the gardens, boats operated by footmen float across the pond and the guest list features the distinguished, rich and powerful!

But below the glamour, evil is lurking. When a dead body is discovered, it forces Lady Alkmene to throw off her mask and attempt to find the true killer before Denise’s family are accused. If only her partner, Jake Dubois, weren’t hiding something from her…

This case might just be more dangerous than either of them could have imagined.

Exclusive Extract:

There was nothing like a real orchestra to bring a waltz to life. Alkmene swayed among the many other guests, dressed up and laughing, breathing the building excitement on the air.

Outside, daylight was fading and the Chinese lanterns became ever more sparkly in the increasing darkness. Couples walked on the lawn, in deep conversation, some of them slipping away to the intimacy of the rose garden or to the boathouse to find a gondola.

Denise’s high-pitched laughter sounded close by. Alkmene twisted her neck to make out her friend among all the other dancers.

Denise was in the arms of a man dressed as a doge, with an elaborately embroidered mask. Most men had opted for plain black silk, but this man’s mask even had sequins that reflected the light from the chandelier above. It was not soft and pliable, but hard, as if it had been cast in plaster and then decorated. The nose stood out as a sharp beak, giving the man’s face a malicious appearance. A bird of prey circling the dance floor looking for victims.

Alkmene shook her head, reproaching herself for the sinister turn her thoughts often took, and returned her attention to her own dance partner. His warm baritone as he invited her to the dance had suggested he was Aunt Felicia’s husband, but now she was in his arms, he moved so nimbly that she began to doubt her earlier assumption. This man had to be younger.

He leaned over to her and said, ‘Have you known the Hargroves long?’ ‘I’m really more closely acquainted with Denise.’

His eyes seemed to glint with irony for a moment, and Alkmene felt uncomfortable that the tension between her and Denise might have been noticed. ‘Has she been looking forward to this night?’ he asked in a wistful tone.

Alkmene nodded. ‘She talked to me about it on several occasions and on the way over she was thrilled.’

She had the distinct impression her dancing partner was looking past her at Denise and the doge with the predatory appearance. Did her partner guess, as she had guessed herself, that this man was Denise’s reason for having craved this night?

Was Beak-mask also the reason Denise had quarrelled with her stepmother? Was he the man her father wouldn’t have wanted to come here?

It didn’t seem logical. Beak-mask wasn’t acting at all inconspicuously, keeping a low profile to escape attention from the other guests and his host.

On the contrary, he didn’t seem to care if his presence was noted by his host or not. Did he feel so secure behind his mask? After all, the masks would not be removed before two in the morning. And a socially sensitive man like Mr Hargrove would never create a scene by going over and asking this man to remove his mask on the spot, so Hargrove could see his face.

The dance ended, and the guests applauded. The sound rippled through the open doors and windows, rolling like waves into the gardens that were lit like a fairy tale.

Now she had stopped moving, Alkmene noticed that her legs were heavy and there was sweat under her mask and in her neck. She needed a break from dancing and from the imposing heat in the ballroom.

With a smile, she excused herself and walked to the open doors. As she drew near to them, she could already sense the cool upon her hot cheeks.

Outside, the night air crept along her neck and arms. She breathed in deep, listening to a call in the distance. Probably an owl, calling for his mate. The male and female had different calls, but Alkmene couldn’t tell them apart. If her father had been with her now, he would have scolded her that she had no head for the simplest of things, while she was always curious about things it wasn’t proper for a lady to know.

The terrace was built higher, broad steps ahead of her leading into the gardens below. To Alkmene’s left and right there were stone railings resting on decorated pillars.

From underneath one of these railings she heard a rustling sound. She walked over quickly, ensuring her shoes made no sound on the stone slabs.

Looking down, she spied a tall figure in a lilac dress hurrying away from the house. It had to be Mrs Zeilovsky. She had been the only woman present wearing that shade of dress. The feathers on the headband she wore moved in the breeze as she rushed along. It was a miracle she could walk so fast in her high heels.

Something moved in the shadow of a group of yews, and a figure stepped out, following Mrs Zeilovsky at a distance. He wore trousers, so it was a man, but he seemed too tall and trim to be the sinister psychiatrist. Who else could have an interest in Mrs Zeilovsky’s secretive behavior?

Alkmene frowned. Was Mrs Zeilovsky hurrying to some secret rendezvous? Was her lover following her at a discreet distance?

Or was the man in pursuit spying on her?

Under orders from her husband?

 

Ooh sounds good! If you like the sound of this extract the book is now available to purchase on Ebook from Amazon  for £1.99.  Or follow the blog tour and find out what these other bloggers are saying about Fatal Masquerade!

Today I’m on the Blog Tour for Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by “The Queen of Crime” P.D James.  Sleep no more is out on the 5th October in Hardback and E book and is being released as a companion to another Short Stories collection The Mistletoe Murders and other stories.

Book Blurb:

The acknowledged ‘Queen of Crime’, P. D. James, was a past master of the short story, weaving together motifs of the Golden Age of crime-writing with deep psychological insight to create gripping, suspenseful tales.

As the six murderous tales unfold, the dark motive of revenge is revealed at the heart of each. Bullying schoolmasters receive their comeuppance, unhappy marriages and childhoods are avenged, a murder in the small hours of Christmas Day puts an end to the vicious new lord of the manor, and, from the safety of his nursing home, an octogenarian exerts exquisite retribution.

The punishments inflicted on the guilty are fittingly severe, but here they are meted out by the unseen forces of natural justice rather than the institutions of the law. Once again, P. D. James shows her expert control of the short-story form, conjuring motives and scenarios with complete conviction, and each with a satisfying twist in the tail.

My Review:

I haven’t read an awful lot of short stories but when i was given the opportunity to review PD James’s new book I jumped at the chance.

Sleep No More is a collection of 6 short stories each involving a murder and each describing the deviousness of the characters as they plot out the perfect murder.  Some of the methods used and the planning of the murder is extraordinarily clever and was a bit of an eye opener to read about.

The stories included a large variety of characters that I had mixed feelings for.  Whilst i felt very sorry for the jilted husband in “The Victim” and the little girl in “The Girl Who Loved Graveyards” I hated the schoolboy in “The Yoyo” as i found him very obnoxious and full of himself.  I think this character is quite real though as I have encountered a few public school children like this.  These being short stories there wasn’t a lot of time for the reader to get to know the characters which i felt was a shame as i would like to have spent a bit more time with some of the characters, discovering more about them and what makes them tick.

All the stories appear to be set in the past and have quite a lot of historical detail in them at times that helps the reader imagine the setting for the stories.  In one the life of a public school in 1930 is well described and in another the stigma of divorce is mentioned giving the reader a glimpse into the life and problems of the characters.  These details were very interesting and helped me to image the characters and story better in my mind.

In my personal opinion the stories get betters as the book goes along.  I definitely enjoyed the later stories more than the earlier ones.  This isn’t to stay that the earlier stories were bad just that the later ones were more my style of story and had a little more going on in them.

PD James in the author of many full length novels and short story collections.  I have read quite a few of her books in the past and will definitely be reading more in the future.

Thank you to Sophie Portas and Faber & Faber for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

P. D. James (1920-2014) was born in Oxford and educated at Cambridge High School for Girls. From 1949 to 1968 she worked in the National Health Service and subsequently in the Home Office, first in the Police Department and later in the Criminal Policy Department. All that experience was used in her novels. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Society of Arts and served as a Governor of the BBC, a member of the Arts Council, where she was Chairman of the Literary Advisory Panel, on the Board of the British Council and as a magistrate in Middlesex and London. She was an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. She won awards for crime writing in Britain, America, Italy and Scandinavia, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award and The National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature (US). She received honorary degrees from seven British universities, was awarded an OBE in 1983 and was created a life peer in 1991. In 1997 she was elected President of the Society of Authors, stepping down from the post in August 2013.

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I’m absolutely delighted to be on the Maria In The Moon blog tour today! I have been a huge fan of Louise Beech’s books since reading The Mountain In My Shoe so I jumped at the chance to be on the blog tour and help spread the word about her brilliant books.  Maria In the Moon is out now in paperback and e-book.

Book Blurb:

Thirty-two-year-old Catherine Hope has a great memory. But she can’t remember everything. She can’t remember her ninth year. She can’t remember when her insomnia started. And she can’t remember why everyone stopped calling her Catherine-Maria.

With a promiscuous past, and licking her wounds after a painful breakup, Catherine wonders why she resists anything approaching real love. But when she loses her home to the devastating deluge of 2007 and volunteers at Flood Crisis, a devastating memory emerges… and changes everything.

Dark, poignant and deeply moving, Maria in the Moon is an examination of the nature of memory and truth, and the defenses we build to protect ourselves, when we can no longer hide…

My Review:

I always feel slightly apprehensive when reading a book that has had so many fantastic reviews from my fellow bloggers as it can raise your expectations leaving you expecting a lot from a book before you have even started.  Fortunately I have now joined the long line of fans for this book and have been recommending it to everyone who will listen!

Maria is a fantastic main character. I felt a lot of sympathy for her and the situations that she finds herself in.  She’s a very real character in that she’s not perfect and she does make mistakes but this helps increase the readers empathy for her as we have all found ourselves in similar situations!  I loved her sense of humour, particularly her hilarious observations of other people which had me laughing out loud at times.  It was very poignant to read about her broken relationship with her mother, which is very fraught and some of the awful things her mother says about her. It was hard to read about her trying to not let these things upset her and pretend not to care.  The state of this relationship is made worse by the loss of a much-loved father and you really feel for her when she makes comparisons between how things are now compared with the past.

I thought it was quite brave of the author to write about an event that happened so recently and would still be remembered by a lot of people, including of course people who were flooded themselves.  It was interesting to read about the many ways in which people were affected by the flood and how long after the waters had receded the floods continued to have an impact on their lives.  Simple things in everyday life, like being able to access public transport and being able to sleep when its raining were suddenly a challenge to people which I hadn’t fully considered before.

Maria’s work at the call center added an interesting slant to the story, as it allowed the reader to see a different, kinder version of Maria then what she normally showed to the world.  She really seemed to care about the callers and want to help them.  It was quite poignant at times to read about her shifts at the call center as I felt that she was in need of a bit of love and care too at times which she wasn’t always receiving.  Some of the things that people phoned up about were hilarious as they were quite random and sometimes not even flood related.  This caused some of the more comic and memorable moments in the book for me that I have remembered long after finishing reading.

This book is so beautifully written.  It really draws you in from the first page and gets inside your mind so that you are constantly thinking about it even when you aren’t reading it.  There is always something happening, some mini drama in Maria’s life that keeps you reading to find out how it works out and because, you care about Maria and want her to have a happy ending. You experience every emotion alongside Maria as she tries to work out where she is going in life and what she wants.  I laughed, I cried, I was frustrated but most importantly I loved reading about Maria’s life and I was very sad when the book ended.

Huge thanks to Orenda books and Anne Cater for my copy of the book and for inviting me on the blog tour.  This will definitely be a book I will think about, and recommend to people, for ages!

About The Author:

 

 

 

 

Louise Beech has been writing since she could physically hold a pen. She
regularly writes travel pieces for the Hull Daily Mail, where she was a columnist for
ten years. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award
for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting
twice for the Bridport Prize. Louise lives with her husband and children on the
outskirts of Hull – the UK’s 2017 City of Culture – and loves her job as Front of
House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.
Her debut novel, How to be Brave, was a number one bestseller on Kindle in the
UK and Australia, and a Guardian Readers’ Pick in 2015. The Mountain in my Shoe
longlisted for the Guardian Not The Booker Prize.

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I’m thrilled to be kicking off the blog tour today for Quieter Than Killing by Sarah Hilary.  This is the 4th book in the DI Rome series but can easily be read as a standalone which what I have done.  Quieter Than Killing is now out in paperback and e-book, the e-book it is currently only 99p.

Book Description:

It’s winter, the nights are dark and freezing, and a series of seemingly random assaults is pulling DI Marnie Rome and DS Noah Jake out onto streets of London. When Marnie’s family home is ransacked, there are signs that the burglary can have only been committed by someone who knows her. Then a child goes missing, yet no-one has reported it. Suddenly, events seem connected, and it’s personal.

Someone out there is playing games. It is time for both Marnie and Noah to face the truth about the creeping, chilling reaches of a troubled upbringing. Keeping quiet can be a means of survival, but the effects can be as terrible as killing.

My Review:

When you start reading a crime novel you don’t expect the book to be overly emotional, but half way through Quieter Than Killing I found myself crying over what was happening in the book.  I think this is down to Sarah Hilary making the reader care about her characters.  She invests a lot of time in making sure the reader understands them, knows about their background and what makes them tick.  Through doing this the reader feels like they know the characters quite intimately and therefore are more upset when events transpire against them.  I found this book particularly poignant as two of the characters were children who were going through quite a hard time.  It was very difficult to read about their experiences and stay emotionally detached, particularly as I was imagining them as my own children at times.  I desperately wanted them to have a happy ending and kept reading to try to find out what was going to happen to them next.

The character development in the book is very well done.  I think I changed my opinion a number of times on each one as the story developed.  This was great at providing an eye opener at times as to how judgmental we can all be about certain members of society.  I started off not liking DI Rome very much which is unusual for me as I am normally instantly a fan of strong female characters but she just seemed a little remote and cold to me at first, plus she annoyed me at times with how she was trying to solve the case which made her come across as being quite arrogant at times.  However I soon came to like her drive and her thoroughness when it came to solving a case.

The case is quite a murky one from the beginning that builds and builds to an almost unbearable crescendo as we learn of all the different characters involved, what their connection and motivation is.  At its peak my head did start to hurt a little as I struggled to stay on top of all the different suspects but then it all becomes clear before a major twist just afterwards sends the reader scrambling in yet another direction.  I thought this was brilliantly done and it definitely kept me on my toes as i thought i had finally figured it all out before the rug was pulled out from under me again with a new revelation- well played Sarah Hilary! There was never a dull moment in the book as there always seemed to be something happening somewhere which really kept my interest and made the book very hard to put down.  I found myself reading late into the night, even swapping to the kindle version so i could continue reading in the dark.  The story is almost impulsive at times as the reader struggles to try to work out what is happening and who could be behind everything.

This is the fourth book in the DI Rome series but it is the first book of Sarah Hilary’s that I have read but it won’t be my last as i really enjoyed her style of writing and the human slant she puts in her writing.

Huge thanks to Katie Brown and Headline for providing me with a copy of the book and for letting me be on the blog tour.

Author Information:

Sarah Hilary has worked as a bookseller, and with the Royal Navy. Her debut, SOMEONE ELSE’S SKIN, won Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2015 and was a World Book Night selection for 2016. The Observer’s Book of the Month (“superbly disturbing”) and a Richard & Judy Book Club bestseller, it has been published worldwide. NO OTHER DARKNESS, the second in the series was shortlisted for a Barry Award in the US. Her DI Marnie Rome series continues with TASTES LIKE FEAR (2016) QUIETER THAN KILLING (2017), with COME AND FIND ME out in April 2018.

Follow Sarah on Twitter at @Sarah_Hilary

 

 

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