Book Synopsis:

1966:In London, Jackie Collins’s racy The World is Full of Married Men hits bookshops and launches her career. In New York, Jacqueline Susann’s debut novel Valley of the Dolls is published, and she’s desperate for it to be a bestseller. But both are about to discover the price they will pay for being women who dare to write about sex.

Meanwhile, college graduate Nancy White is excited to take up her dream job at a Manhattan publishing house. But Nancy could never be prepared for the rampant sexism she is about to encounter.

When Nancy introduces the two Jackies, she fears they will become rivals in their race to top the charts. As she strives to achieve her ambition of becoming an editor, can all three women succeed despite the men determined to hold them back?

My Review:

Scandalous Women is a gripping, fascinating read from one of my favourite historical fiction authors.

The story is told from the point of view of three characters, real life authors Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins as well as a book editor called Nancy. I had heard of Jackie Collins as I’m a huge fan of her books but I don’t think I’d heard of Jacqueline before. I really enjoyed learning more about their lives and how they started off as authors. The author does a great job of describing the publishing industry in the 1960’s so I felt that I was actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters. The 60’s were a period of newly found freedom where a lot of women were able to join the workforce and gain independence. However it was also quite a sexist time and I soon found myself getting very upset as I discovered more about what women had to put up with.

I thought the book had a great pace to it and there was always something happening to keep me reading. Even in the quieter moments I was just happy hanging out with the fabulous characters as they tried to negotiating the publishing world. I love reading about strong female characters so I enjoyed watching following these three women as they make their way to the top.

I think I’ve read every book Gill has written and in my opinion she keeps getting better and better.

Huge thanks to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Avon for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Gill Paul is the international bestselling author of thirteen novels, many of them reevaluating extraordinary twentieth-century women whom she believes have been marginalized or misjudged. Her novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Toronto Globe & Mail charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages.

Her latest novel, SCANDALOUS WOMEN (2024), is about trailblazing authors Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann battling their way to the top in the misogynous boys’ club of 1960s publishing. A BEAUTIFUL RIVAL (2023) is about the infamous feud between beauty tycoons Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. JACKIE AND MARIA (2020) was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown. THE COLLECTOR”S DAUGHTER (2021) was named a Times ‘historical novel of the month’ and THE MANHATTAN GIRLS (2022), was reviewed in The Sun as a “sweeping, evocative tale” and in The Book List as “Witty, emotional and intelligent”.

Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN FIFTY OBJECTS and a series of Love Stories. Published around the world, this series includes ROYAL LOVE STORIES, WORLD WAR I LOVE STORIES and TITANIC LOVE STORIES.

Gill lives in London where she swims year round in a wild pond, and speaks at libraries and literary festivals on topics ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.

Book Synopsis:

It’s 1945, and Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett, aged 23, is on his way home.

But ‘home’ is Dimperley, built in the 1500s, vast and dilapidated, up to its eaves in debt and half-full of fly-blown taxidermy and dependent relatives, the latter clinging to a way of life that has gone forever.

And worst of all – following the death of his heroic older brother – Valentine is now Sir Valentine, and is responsible for the whole bloody place. To Valentine, it’s a millstone; to Zena Baxter, who has never really had a home before being evacuated there with her small daughter, it’s a place of wonder and sentiment, somewhere that she can’t bear to leave.

But Zena has been living with a secret, and the end of the war means she has to face a reckoning of her own…

Funny, sharp and touching, Small Bomb at Dimperley is both a love story and a bittersweet portrait of an era of profound loss, and renewal.

My Review:

Small Bomb At Dimperley is an absorbing read about life in Britain after the Second World War and a country on the brink of change.

I’ve been a huge fan of Lissa’s previous books so I was very excited to read this one. The story centres around Dimperley manor a crumbling mansion with an long, proud history. I enjoyed finding out more about the house and exploring it’s various parts alongside the characters. It was interesting to see what the house had been used for in the past as well as the difference between life there in the past and after the war.

The family living in the house were a fantastic mix or eccentric characters that I loved following throughout the book. Each one brought a different element to the story and helped the reader understand a different part of the story better. I grew fond of all of them but my favourites were definitely the two daughters as I liked their attitude and I felt sorry for them trying to negotiate life in Britain after spending the war in America.

I thought this book had a good pace to it and I soon found myself absorbed into the story. The story has some very emotional moments to it but also some hilarious one which made me laugh out loud – especially the origins of one of the dogs names that was very memorable.

If you are a fan of historical fiction then I highly recommend this book!

Huge thanks to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Lissa Evans has written books for both adults and children, including the bestselling Old Baggage, Their Finest Hour and a Half, longlisted for the Orange Prize, Small Change for Stuart, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Costa Book Awards amongst others, and Crooked Heart, longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Book Synopsis:

For fans of THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES, THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS and SHE AND HER CAT, discover the award-winning bestselling Japanese novel that has become an international sensation in this utterly charming celebration of the healing power of cats.

A cat a day keeps the doctor away …

On the top floor of an old building at the end of a cobbled alley in Kyoto lies the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. Only a select few – those who feel genuine emotional pain – can find it.

The mysterious centre offers a unique treatment for its troubled patients: it prescribes cats as medication.

Get ready to fall in love:
– Bee, an eight-year-old female, mixed breed helps a disheartened businessman as he finds unexpected joy in physical labour;
– Margot, muscly like a lightweight boxer, helps a middle-aged callcentre worker stay relevant;
– Koyuki, an exquisite white cat brings closure to a mother troubled by the memory of the rescue kitten she was forced to abandon;
– Tank and Tangerine bring peace to a hardened fashion designer, as she learns to be kinder to herself;
– Mimita, the Scottish Fold kitten helps a broken-hearted Geisha to stop blaming herself for the cat she once lost.

Brimming with feline comfort and warmth, we see how the company of a wise and satisfied cat never lets us down when we need it most in this irresistible celebration of our furry friends.

My Review:

We’ll Prescribe You A Cat is a cute, heartwarming book that is a must read for all cat lovers.

The book is divided into sections, named for each cat that the character’s are being prescribed.  The stories all centre around a mysterious, magical ‘clinic for the soul’ that only appears when the person needs it or wants to find it.  In each story we learn more about a different character and their different reasons for wanting to find the clinic.  I loved following each character on their journey as we discover more about their lives and seeing how each cat helps them with their problems.  I thought all the stories were very different with some of them being heartwarming, some making me cry and some making me laugh out loud as I read about how having a cat impacted on their lives.  

I thought that the book had a great pace to it, and I soon found myself absorbed into the stories.  Each story gives an insight into Japanese culture which I found fascinating to discover more about particularly how the treat cats there and what their working environment is like.  My only slight quibble was that I felt that some of the stories ended a bit abruptly as I would have loved to have followed the characters for longer and find out what happens next for them.  

Overall, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the sequel when it come out next year.  I think that being prescribed a cat sounds like a wonderful idea and I wish that it was something I could access in real life.  If you are a fan of the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series or like books with magical realism then I think you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Doubleday for providing me with an ALC via Libro fm.  

About The Author:

Born in 1975 in Kyoto,award-winningauthor Syou Ishida has always adored her cats. She began writing fiction while working at a telecommunications company. We’ll Prescribe You a Cat has been a runaway bestseller in Japan, and is due to be translated into over thirty languages. Its sequel, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, Again will be published worldwide next year.

Book Synopsis:

The Lost Bookshop meets The Keeper of Stories in this utterly heart-warming story about friendship, hope and a mystery hidden in the language of flowers…

The smallest treasures can hold the biggest mysteries…

One year after her husband’s death Emma has become a wallflower, hiding among the brighter blooms in the florist where she works.

But when a colleague invites her to a talk on the Titanic, she begins a quest to uncover who arranged the flowers on board.

As Emma discovers the lost story of the girl and the great ship, she realises that flowers may unlock long buried secrets in her own life…

Will she be able to unlock the mystery of the Titanic and heal her heart too?

My Review:

The Secret Of Flowers is an gentle, absorbing dual time line read that I really enjoyed.

The Story follows Emma as she tries to deal with the loss of her husband while trying to get her life back together and a young stewardess that worked on the Titanic.  Out of the two timelines I did prefer Emma’s story as the Titanic has always fascinated me so I enjoyed finding out more about what life on board was like.  I found it fascinating to learn more about their role on the ship and to discover more about what might have contributed to the sinking of the titanic.  I hadn’t heard the Titanic being described as ‘a ship full of flowers’ before so I enjoyed learning more about the different ways flowers were used on board.  The Stewardess life seemed like a hard one and it made my blood boil to see how she was treated by some of the people on board.  

It took me a while to warm to Emma as I couldn’t understand why she was acting how she was at the beginning.  This did change as I learnt more about her history and I actually ended up feeling very sorry for her in the end as her grief is very raw.  It was lovely to see Emma grow more confident in herself and watch her friendships with the lovely Len, Betty and Tamas grow.  

I thought this book had a slower pace to it but I didn’t mind as I was just enjoying hanging out with the fabulous characters.  The author has clearly done her research and I enjoyed learning more about a stewardess’s life on board ships at that time as well as exploring Cambridge alongside Emma.  The two timelines slowly come together and I loved following Emma as she solves the mystery of the florist on the Titanic.  

Huge thanks to Indie Thinking and Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this book.

About The Author:

After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. However, in her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. She soon came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and eventually she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.

In her debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, Sally combines her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. The novel sold over half a million copies in the UK and was translated into 29 languages, making Sally a Sunday Times Bestseller. It was also shortlisted for British Book of the Year.

Sally’s second novel, The Book of Beginnings, was launched in September 2023. It is a story about the power of friendship – and reflects her love of fountain pens and stationery. Sally is currently editing Book 3 due out in August 2024.

Sally lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is studying to be a doctor and her youngest daughter is the author, Libby Page.

Book Synopsis:

 REASON TO LIVE.
Still grieving the death of her best friend, Erin knows she needs to start living – but has no idea how. Then she loses her favourite book, a heavily annotated and containing her friend’s final words to her.


A REASON TO LOVE.
When James finds Erin’s note-filled book in his local community library, it sparks a life-changing conversation. He writes his own message back, and soon they are locked in an anonymous book exchange, with no idea who the other person in the margins might be.


A REASON TO FORGIVE?
But Erin and James have a shared history that neither of them realise. How will Erin react when she discovers the other writer isn’t a stranger at all – but the person she once swore she’d never forgive?


A story of second chances and new beginnings, this is a love letter to books – and a love letter to love.

My Review:

The Book is a thought provoking, romantic read that manages to be both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

The story is told from the point of view of Erin who is still grieving her best friend and James an avid reader with a fondness for classics. I enjoyed following the two of them as the exchanged messages and slowly grow closer. I thought it was a very cute way to fall in love and although I was twitching slightly about the idea if people writing in books, I’ve always wanted to find a hidden note a book.

I was expecting this book to be a light romance but there are actually some quite serious topics such as grief and mental health mentioned which surprised me. I thought these were dealt with on a very sensitive and in a way that seemed realistic rather than just thrown in as an easy plot twist.

This book does start off a little slowly as the author sets the scene but I soon felt invested in the story and the characters budding relationship. There were a few twists that surprised me and, although I felt it was a bit sudden, I did like the ending. I do wish there had been an epilogue as I would have loved to find out what happened next – though maybe there is a sequel planned.

Huge thanks to Alainna from Hodder for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Tessa Bickers has always been fascinated by people. What makes them different and what makes them the same. Those universal experiences from grief and loneliness, to heartbreak and love. She’s always told stories, either through songs or the books she’s been writing since her teens. All those years of her brother telling her she was nosy, when he didn’t understand it was purely for research purposes!

Tessa lives in Brixton with her partner, their young but very loud daughter and their one-eyed ginger cat, Rocky, with his mean left hook.

Her debut novel, The Book Swap, will be published in 2024 by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Graydon House in the US.

Good morning everyone today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books from the fabulous Four Winds series by Alexandria Warwick.

I absolutely loved The North Wind (review coming soon) so I was very excited to receive a copy of the next book in the series The West Wind. I can’t wait to read it and find out what will happen next.

Huge thanks to the lovely Rhys from @simonschusteruk for sending me this to me.

The West Wind is out on the 7th November 2024. Find out more about the book below ⬇️

What’s your favourite fantasy book/ series?

The West Wind by Alexandria Warwick

Brielle of Thornbrook has dedicated her life to the abbey. She spends her days forging iron and her evenings studying the Text, all in preparation of becoming an acolyte. Twenty-one years on this earth and she has never touched a man. And she never will.

But when she finds an injured stranger in the forest, Brielle can’t resist the urge to help him. The encounter leads her to the realm of Under, where the air breathes rot, and the fair folk dance and whisper. Where she discovers that the man she helped is actually a god: Zephyrus, the West Wind, Bringer of Spring.

There are few Brielle can trust in Under, least of all Zephyrus. He is charming, dangerously so, and never has a man so thoroughly ensnared her. As she embarks on a journey through the eerie banks and caves of Under, Brielle finds herself in a perilous situation. For here is where faith and heart collide – and where she risks not only her future… but her life.

Beloved by readers on TikTok, The West Wind is a standalone fantasy romance sprinkled with Greek lore, the second in the Four Winds series. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Scarlett St. Clair and Raven Kennedy.

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick

An absolute MUST-READ for romantasy fans who love the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas! The North Wind is an addictive, sexy and enchanting enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone. 
 
Wren of Edgewood is no stranger to suffering. With her parents gone, it’s Wren’s responsibility to ensure she and her sister survive the harsh and endless winter, but if the legends are to be believed, their home may not be safe for much longer.
 
For three hundred years, the land surrounding Edgewood has been encased in ice as the Shade, a magical barrier that protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond, weakens. Only one thing can stop the Shade’s fall: the blood of a mortal woman bound in wedlock to the North Wind, a dangerous immortal whose heart is said to be as frigid as the land he rules. And the time has come to choose his bride.
 
When the North Wind sets his eyes on Wren’s sister, Wren will do anything to save her – even if it means sacrificing herself in the process. But mortal or not, Wren won’t go down without a fight . . .
 
Beloved by readers on TikTok, discover your next fantasy romance obsession with the Four Winds series, inspired by fairytales and sprinkled with Greek mythology. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Raven Kennedy and Scarlett St. Clair.

About The Author:

Alexandria Warwick is the author of the Four Winds series and the North series. A classically trained violinist, she spends much of her time performing in orchestras. She lives in Florida.

Good morning everyone I hope you’re having a great Monday. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Growing Brave by Donna Ashworth this week.

I absolutely love Donna’s books which are always so inspiring and helpful that reading them just feels like being enveloped in a big hug .

Filled with beautiful poems and inspirational quotes this is a fantastic book that I know I’ll be reading often.

Huge thanks to @bwpublishing and @bonnierbooks_uk for sending this to me.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Growing Brave is published 3rd September 2024.

Book Synopsis:

In this powerful new collection of wisdom and poetry, Donna Ashworth helps us to find strength and courage on the days we feel lost, to pick ourselves up when times are hard, to soothe fear and self-doubt when we are in their grip, and to let in more life and love as we brave our challenges.

Every day we are bombarded by thoughts, feelings and information that make us feel anxious and afraid. We worry we don’t measure up, we are scared of failure and we find it hard to be ourselves. We also feel powerless watching the world getting messier. Fear is a limiting factor for many of us and if we don’t challenge it we can find ourselves keeping out more of the good stuff in life than the bad.

With poems such as ‘One Day You’ll See’, ‘Growing in Moonlight’, ‘The Comparing’ and ‘Always There’, bestselling author Donna Ashworth helps us to see that whatever we are facing, no matter how small or afraid we feel, we make the biggest difference in this world and to our own happiness when we are brave enough to show up as ourselves.

About The Author:

Donna Ashworth is a number one Sunday Times Bestselling Poet, whose words you will often find flying around the internet, widely shared daily, by her 1.7 million followers.

Donna’s writing came to spotlight during the lockdown period where she saw her purpose as building a place to find hope, calm and comfort, amidst the collective chaos. She quickly became an internet favourite with one viral post after another and a list of celebrity endorsements.

Having published 8 books since; 3 successful self-published titles and 5 with Bonnier Books/Black & White publishing, her newest collection of words, ‘GROWING BRAVE’ is now on pre-order and set to be received just as warmly as the much-loved Wild Hope.

Priding herself on being ‘imperfectly human’ and ‘sharing the dark with the light to harness hope’, Donna engages constantly with her followers in a bid to find comfort in numbers as we ‘walk each other home’ on this journey of life.

Book Synopsis:

You’ve known her all your life . . .

Or have you?

Tasha and sister Alice look alike, but couldn’t be more different.
Tasha’s married with kids, settled near their home town of Bristol.
While Alice travels the world with her husband. Yet each trusts the other with her life.

So when Tasha wants a break,Alice offers to stay in her home with the kids, so her sister can have a holiday. Tasha knows they’re in safe hands.

She couldn’t be more wrong.

The call sends Tasha rushing home.
Alice is in intensive care.
Her husband is dead.

The police are hunting for suspects and motives.
But Tasha can’t think why anyone would hurt her sister.
Then the note arrives, addressed to Tasha:

It was supposed to be you . . .

My Review:

The Wrong Sister is a twisty, gripping read that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I read this over two days whilst on holiday with three kids and I just couldn’t put it down.  It’s going to be a hard book to review as I really don’t want to give anything away.

The Story is told from the point of view of Tasha, her mother Jeanette and a mysterious lady called Bonnie.  We follow the characters over a period of six months as they try to figure out who broke into Tasha’s house, murdered her brother in law and injured her sister.  I found the mystery surrounding the break in very intriguing and I loved following the characters as they try to solve the mystery.  I wasn’t initially too fond of Tasha as I found her a bit selfish at times, only caring about herself when other people seemed in a worse situation then she was.  She grew on me as the book continued and we find out more about her past, however.  Alice, her sister, seemed almost too good to be true which made me instantly suspicious and I enjoyed finding out more about her seemingly perfect life.

I thought the story had a great pace to it and I quickly became absorbed in the story.  There are many twists that kept me guessing and I enjoyed trying to unpick the mystery alongside Tasha.  The different threads of the story slowly come together and I was blown away by the ending which was completely unexpected.  I actually thought I’d guessed the outcome early on in the book but, much to my delight, I was wrong- very wrong!  

Huge thanks to Michael Joesph for sending me a copy of this book.  

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About The Author:

Claire Douglas is the Sunday Times number one bestselling author of eight stand alone novels: The Sisters (2015), Local Girl Missing (2016), Last Seen Alive (2017), Do Not Disturb (2018), Then She Vanishes (2019) and Just Like The Other Girls (2020). Her seventh, The Couple At No 9 (2021) was an Amazon number one bestseller, a number three Sunday Times bestseller and most recently hit number one on Germany’s Der Spiegel paperback bestsellers chart. The Girls Who Disappeared was a Richard and Judy book club pick for Autumn 2022 and was an instant number one Sunday Times bestseller. Her books have sold over a million copies in the UK and have been published worldwide.

Her most recent, THE WOMAN WHO LIED will be published on July 6th 2023.

You can find Claire on Twitter at @DougieClaire, Instagram as clairedouglasauthor, or visit her Facebook page clairedouglasauthor.

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. Today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books by Evie Wood.

I really loved The Lost Bookshop so I’m excited to read her new book The Story Collector. I’m especially intrigued by it as the story seems to involve a bit of magic and Irish Folklore which I always love.

The story collector is out now and you can find out more about the book below ⬇️

Do you enjoy books about folklore? Any recommendations for me?

The Story Collector

In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything…

One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.

In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.

With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods’s latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.

The Lost Bookshop

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.

About The Author:

Evie Woods is the author of The Lost Bookshop, the #1 Wall Street Journal, Sunday Times and Amazon Kindle bestseller, which was shortlisted for a British Book Award, and translated into 30 languages. Her latest novel, The Story Collector will be published in August 2024.

Evie lives on the West Coast of Ireland where she escapes the inclement weather by writing stories that push the boundary between what is real and what we wish were so. Drawing inspiration from the unseen forces that shape our lives and the healing power of storytelling, she invites the reader to embrace the magic that exists in our ordinary lives.

Book Synopsis:

Welcome to Rook Hall.

The stage is set. The players are ready. By night’s end, a murderer will be revealed.
Ex-detective Jackson Brodie is staving off a bad case of midlife malaise when he is called to a sleepy Yorkshire town, and the seemingly tedious matter of a stolen painting. But one theft leads to another, including the disappearance of a valuable Turner from Burton Makepeace, home to Lady Milton and her family. Once a magnificent country house, Burton Makepeace has now partially been converted into a hotel, hosting Murder Mystery weekends.
As paying guests, a vicar, an ex-army officer, impecunious aristocrats, and old friends converge, we are treated a fiendishly clever mystery; one that pays homage to the masters of the genre―from Agatha Christie to Dorothy Sayers.
Brilliantly inventive, with all of Atkinson’s signature wit, wordplay and narrative brio, Death at the Sign of the Rook may be Jackson Brodie’s most outrageous and memorable case yet.

My Review:

Death At The Sign Of The Rook is another gripping, intriguing book in the fabulous Jackson Brodie book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The story is told from the point of view of a variety of different characters which all cleverly link together to help provide clues as to where the missing painting is. I absolutely loved the characters the author has created and enjoyed following them through the book. They initially seem to be quite random, and I couldn’t figure out how they’d fit into the story but I was so enjoying learning more about them that I didn’t mind. This changes as the story goes on and the different threads gradually join together which I thought was brilliantly done.

It was great being back with Brodie watching him solve another mystery. It was good to see that he hadn’t changed much from the last book with his wry sense of humour and ability to annoy people still firmly intact. As a huge fan of the series I was pleased to see a return for Renee and Louise as it was great to catch up with them too. My favourite character in the book however was definitely Lady Milton who I absolutely loved. Her often hilarious observations, old school mannerism and sense of humour really added to the book. I often found myself laughing out loud when reading about her antics- much to the amusement of my kids. I’m really hoping that she will appear in another book as I’d love to read more about her.

I thought the book had a great pace to it and I was soon drawn into the story and into the lives of the characters. The investigation is an interesting one and it was fun to learn more not just about art but about historical art theft which I hadn’t known much about. There were lots of revelations that kept me guessing and I absolutely loved the locked room ending which led to a very gripping finale.

Death At the Sign Of The Rook is the sixth book in the series and while it is probably better to read the books in order I think you could read this book as a standalone as anything that you need to know is explained.

Huge thanks to @alison_is_reading & @doubledayukbooks for my proof copy of this book.

About The Author:

Kate Atkinson is an international bestselling novelist, as well as playwright and short story writer. She is the author of Life After Life; Transcription; Behind the Scenes at the Museum, a Whitbread Book of the Year winner; the story collection Not the End of the World; and five novels in the Jackson Brodie crime series, which was adapted into the BBC TV show Case Histories.