Good morning everyone today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books by Juan Gomez -Jurado.

I love discovering new crime thrillers, especially if they are slightly different to other books I’ve read. This series instantly appealed to me as I always love books that feature a strong, female lead and I was a big fan of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo too.

Huge thanks to the lovely Chloe from Pan Macmillan for sending these books to me.

Red Queen is out now, Black Wolf will be published on the 14th March 2024.

Red Queen by Juan Gomez -Jurado

You’ve never met anyone like her . . .

Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes.

But it’s been awhile since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside.

She also doesn’t receive visitors. That’s why she really, really doesn’t like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs.

Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her.

And she likes that even less.

Black Wolf by Juan Gomez -Jurado

The highly anticipated sequel to Juan Gómez-Jurado’s number 1 international bestseller, Red Queen, featuring Antonia Scott, the most compelling and original detective since Lisbeth Salander. Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia.

Antonia Scott is the lynchpin of the Red Queen project, created to work behind the scenes to solve the most dark, devious and dangerous crimes.

In southern Spain, in the Costa del Sol, a key mafia figure is found brutally murdered in his villa, his pregnant wife, Lola Moreno, barely escapes an attempt to kill her and is on the run. An unusual shipping container arrives from St Petersburg in Spain with the corpses of nine women.

Now Antonia, with the help of her protector, Jon Gutierrez, must track down the missing Lola. But they aren’t the only ones – a dangerous hitman, known as the Black Wolf, is also on her trail. And Antonia Scott, still plagued by her personal demons, must outwit, out-manoeuvre, and, ultimately, face this terrible, mysterious killer.

About The Author:

Juan Gómez-Jurado (1977 Madrid, Spain) is the #1International bestselling author of the thriller RED QUEEN, soon a major Prime Video Show. In 2020, Juan celebrated the mark of 10 million readers worldwide.

Book Synopsis:

Eight contestants. One killer. Can you find the traitor?

Everything is a clue.
Bonnie arrives on a remote sea fort off the coast of England to take part in a mysterious reality TV show. Competing against seven strangers, she must solve a series of puzzles to win the prize money, but this is no game – and the consequences of failure are deadly.

No one leaves.
Under scrutiny from the watching public, the contestants quickly turn on one another. Who will sacrifice the most for wealth and fame? And why can’t Bonnie shake the creeping sense that they are not alone?

The only way out is to win.
When the first contestant is found dead, Bonnie begins to understand the dark truth at the heart of this twisted competition: there’s a killer inside the fort, and anyone could be next. If Bonnie wants to escape, she needs to win…

Are you ready to play?

My Review:

The Escape Room is a dark, gripping read that was surprisingly thought provoking.

I used to love reality shows in my younger days (I don’t get much time to watch any these days) so this book instantly appealed to me, especially it’s comparison to The Traitors TV show which I’ve been hearing a lot about. I was immediately drawn into the story and the dangerous situation the characters find themselves in. It quickly becomes apparent to the reader that not everything is as it seems from the isolated setting of an abandoned sea fort to the increasingly dangerous challenges the group are set. The sense of unpredictability helped increase the tension in the book making the book hard to put down as I wanted to see how everything would end up.

The book is told mainly from the point of view of Bonnie a she negotiates being a contestant on the show with flashbacks to the contestant interviews when they applied for the show and an podcast interview with Bonnie about her experiences on the show. I didn’t particularly warm to any of the characters on the show as they all had flaws which made them very unlikable and I often found their attitudes toward each other weren’t very nice at all. The only slight exception to this was Bonnie who on one hand annoyed me as she seemed the most worried about how the viewers would be viewing her but on the other showed lots of courage in dangerous situations and seemed to actually care about her fellow contestants.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to others. I thought the book was incredibly gripping and the tension in the book never really let off making it very hard to put the book down. There were lots of twists that took me by surprise and just seemed to keep coming. Just when I thought everything had been revealed there would be another twist that sent the story in a completely different direction. I found parts of the story quite thought provoking as it has definitely made me think more about reality shows not just how far they could go but how much audiences would be willing to accept before turning off. It also shines the light on social media and how harming it can be on other people. I’ve never been particularly interested in Escape Rooms and now, after reading this book, I’m definitely never trying one.

Huge thanks to Chloe Rose from Transworld for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you are looking for a gripping thriller with a difference then I highly recommend this book.

About The Author:

L.D.Smithson is a psychologist from Yorkshire who has published a series of Crime Thriller Novels under a different name. THE ESCAPE ROOM is her debut stand alone novel.

Good afternoon everyone I hope you’re having a good Sunday. I picked this interesting looking proof up at work today. I love memoirs that include travel and food so this book instantly appealed to me.

Huge thanks to the publisher for sending to the bookshop.

Out 23rd May 2024.

Book Synopsis:

A gorgeous, evocative memoir of family, food and migration.

As a child, Or Rosenboim’s knowledge of her family history was based on the food her grandmothers cooked for her – round kneidlach balls in hot chicken broth, cinnamon-scented noodle kugel, stuffed vine leaves, herby green rice with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and aubergine in tomato sauce. She knew that her family had a complex past but it was only reading her grandmothers’ recipe books after they both died that she began to explore that past for the first time.

The result is a vivid chronicle of displacement and escape, retracing the complex network of journeys her family took from Samarkand and Riga to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in search of safety and a better life, punctuated by the food they ate and cooked along the way. Today, though, these journeys, and this long tradition of migration, would now be almost impossible.

A beguiling mixture of history, memoir, travel and food, Air and Love is also a fresh and deeply human retelling of some of the major stories of the twentieth century.

About The Author:

I am Associate Professor in Contemporary History at Alma Mater Studiorum, the University of Bologna.

I hold a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Cambridge, M.St in Global and Imperial History from the University of Oxford, UK, and BA (summa cum laude) in Modern History from the University of Bologna, Italy.

Before joining the University of Bologna I was Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Modern History at City, University of London. Previously, I was Junior Research Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge, and Teaching Associate at the Centre for Gender Studies, University of Cambridge.

I held visiting studentships and fellowships at the European University Institute, Florence, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Chicago, Sciences Po, Paris and LUISS, Rome.

My research examines the twentieth century ideas about world order, globalism and migration.

I’ve published on geopolitics, cosmopolitanism, federalism and democracy theory in Britain, Europe and the United States. I am also interested in the relationship between intellectual history and international theory. Recently, I’ve been writing on Italian international and geopolitical thought in the  the twentieth century.

Good afternoon everyone I hope you’re having a good Saturday.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the fabulous looking book this week. A historical thriller set in Florence sounds right up my street!

Huge thanks to Katya from Little Brown for sending.

Out 6th August 2024.

Book Synopsis:

Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue and opulence, murder and betrayal.
Sharp-witted conwoman Rosa Cellini arrives in the city the same day that the Medici Pope, Leo X, returns to take up the reins of power. This is not a coincidence. The new Pope is extorting a mountain of indulgence money from the people of Florence to bolster his power and standing, and Rosa has a plan to take it back.

To pull off the Renaissance’s greatest robbery, she’ll recruit a team of highly skilled misfits: Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. But as the authorities draw closer and the Medici’s noose pulls tighter around the land, old secrets resurface and tensions in the group start to flare. What began as a robbery could be the key to saving the city itself – if Rosa and company don’t destroy each other first.

Get ready for an absolute swashbuckling riot, beginning with a ‘mud’ pie to the Pope’s face, and ending with a climactic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with action, Medici Heist is your next un-put-downable obsession.

About The Author:

Caitlin Schneiderhan is a TV writer and novelist, whose work can be seen on Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things. She hatched from a cocoon of Terry Pratchett novels when she was thirteen years old, and her love of fun, genre-focused storytelling runs deep. Hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland, Schneiderhan now resides in Los Angeles. She still has a full shelf of Terry Pratchett paperbacks.

Good morning everyone and happy Saturday.  I was tagged by the lovely @nothing.beats.a.good.book to share some book titles which could work as pet names.

❤️DIVA
🧡 BUTTER
💛The House Of DUDLEY
💚The BEAR & The Nightingale
💙BIG SWISS
🩵I, Mona LISA
💜 TEDDY
💟 DARLING Girls
🩷The HUNTER
💞 PIGLET
🤍QUINT
🩶 Black WOLF
🖤Once A MONSTER

We really want a dog and when I asked my kids what they’d call their dog they said Pumpkin and Charlie both of which I couldn’t find…

Today my youngest two are going out for clubs and my eldest has a friend coming over.  I’m planning to hide upstairs and read my book as I haven’t got much reading done this week.

I’ve tagged a few people who might want to join in but, as always, no pressure.

What are your Saturday plans?

Book Synopsis:

A powerful family. A luxury cruise. A killer on board.

You’re invited to join the infamous Scarmardo family on a five night voyage aboard their glamorous new ship. It’s a chance to see your best friend, Belle, newly married to Mattia Scarmardo. You haven’t seen her in years.

FIVE
On the first night, you’ll be wrapped up in the glamour of the ship.

FOUR
On the second night, you’ll wonder who is sending you threatening notes.

THREE
On the third night, someone will die.

TWO
On the fourth night, you’ll discover that someone knows the truth of what you did.

ONE
On the last night, you’ll be left for dead.

WILL YOU MAKE IT BACK TO SHORE ALIVE?

My Review:

Ooh I did enjoy this book. It was a really atmospheric, gripping and twisty read that will make a great holiday read. It’s going to be a difficult boo to review as I really don’t want to give anything away.

Firstly I really loved the setting of the boat in this book which helped provide the perfect setting for a closed room murder mystery. At the beginning of the book I enjoyed following the characters as they arrive on board and exploring the luxury surroundings alongside them. I almost wished that I was there with them, experiencing everything alongside them and then I was very glad that I wasn’t.

The story is told from multiple points of view as the reader is taken between the past and the present as the story unfolds. I don’t think I liked any of the characters on board, particularly the family members who seemed so snobby towards Emily. Everyone on board had secrets that are slowly revealed as the story goes on. I found it very interesting to learn more about all the characters and their backstory though, especially as it becomes apparent that everything is not as it first appears.

I thought this was an incredibly fast paced book and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me reading. Just when I thought nothing else could possibly happen, something did and sent the story off in a whole different direction. I couldn’t stop reading until the end and I wasn’t able to guess what was going on until it was revealed which I always love.

Huge thanks to Sophie and Poppy from Ransom Pr for inviting me on to the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you like fast paced, closed room thrillers then you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

Rachel Wolf is the author of the luxury thriller FIVE NIGHTS. Before writing, she worked in the travel industry, and FIVE NIGHTS takes inspiration from some of her travels. Catch up on FIVE NIGHTS with Talk Radio Europe (TRETalkRadio) with Hannah Murray Lopez; or with Sophie on Five Books blog. Rachel also has two short stories in the Sunday Express’s S Magazine and BEST magazine this week.

Book Synopsis:

On the evening of 21st November 1974, bombs planted by the IRA in two crowded Birmingham pubs exploded, killing 21 people and injuring at least 170. Within a day of the explosion, six men – Paddy Hill, Gerry Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, Billy Power, Johnny Walker and Hughie Callaghan – were arrested and charged. All were found guilty.

Methodically, with total clarity and a tone that is both gripping and impassioned, then investigative journalist Mullin unpicked every detail of the case, revealing gaping holes in the prosecution case and the horrifying consequences of an establishment determined to close ranks.

Now 50 years on from the Birmingham Bombings and with new writing from Mullin, this classic edition of Error of Judgement tells the complete story of one of the most significant miscarriages of justice ever. As relevant now as it was when it was first published, it’s an essential text on corruption, violence and bias in British policing and justice.

My Review:

Error Of Judgement is a fascinating, thought provoking read which raises lots of issues that are as relevant now as they where then.

Firstly I hadn’t heard much of the Birmingham bombings before reading this book so I enjoyed learning more about it. I thought it was absolutely shocking the errors and the assumptions that were made by the police. It reminded me a bit of the trial by social media attitude people have nowadays, where people make assumptions as they want someone held accountable for the crime but don’t bother looking at all the evidence. How the police thought they had managed to find the bombers in a day with little evidence is just unbelievable.

The author does a great job of presenting the case in a compelling and surprisingly gripping way. I enjoyed following the story and watching everything unfold. I felt extremely sorry for the wrongly convicted men and the effects they must still feel from their incarnation. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’d definitely be interested in reading more from him in the future.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book. If you are intrigued by real life crime stories then you need to read this book.

About The Author:

Eeeek I’m so excited to receive a copy of The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier.  I opened this at work and squealed so loudly when I realised what it was.  I went to see Tracy at Cheltenham Festival a few years ago, where she mentioned she was working on a new book and it’s finally here!!!

Huge thanks to @indie_thinking for sending me a copy of this book – I’m an incredibly happy little bookworm.

Find out more about the book below ⬇️

Are you a Tracy Chevalier fan? If so what’s your favourite book?

Out 12th September 2024

Book Synopsis:

Venice, 1486. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here – like the glass the island’s maestros spend their lives learning to control.

Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin. She works in secret, knowing her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men. But perfection may take a lifetime.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola as she hones her craft through war and plague, tragedy and triumph, love and loss.

Her creations will adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans from Paris to Vienna – but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her?

Tracy Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is vivid, inventive, spellbinding: a virtuoso portrait of a woman, a family and a city that are as everlasting as their glass.

About The Author:

Tracy is the author of 10 novels, including the international bestseller GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, which has sold over 5 million copies and been made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. American by birth, British by geography, she lives in London with her husband and son. Her latest novel, A SINGLE THREAD, tells the story of an English woman between the Wars who forges an independent life in Winchester. Tracy is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and has honorary doctorates from her alma maters Oberlin College and the University of East Anglia. Her website http://www.tchevalier.com will tell you more about her and her books.

Photo: Nina Subin

Book Synopsis:

When a panther attacks a family of homesteaders in the remote hill country of Texas, it leaves a young girl traumatised and scarred, and her mother dead. Samantha is determined to find and kill the animal and avenge her mother, and her half-brother Benjamin, helpless to make her see sense, joins her quest.

Dragged into the panther hunters’ crusade by the force and purity of Samantha’s desire for revenge are a charismatic outlaw, a haunted, compassionate preacher, and an aged but relentless tracker dog. As the members of this unlikely posse hunt the giant panther, they in turn are pursued by a hapless, sadistic soldier with a score to settle. And Benjamin can only try to protect his sister from her own obsession, and tell her story in his uniquely vivid voice.

The breathtaking saga of a steadfast girl’s revenge against an implacable and unknowable beast, The Which Way Tree is a timeless tale full of warmth and humour, testament to the power of adventure and enduring love.

My Review:

The Which Way Tree is an absorbing action filled adventure filled with courage, the want for revenge and above all love.

Firstly I loved how this story is told in the form of letters from seventeen year old Benjamin to a very patient judge. This helped give the reader an insight into Benjamin’s life and his thoughts about what happened. The author does a great job of giving him a voice so that I really felt I was hearing from a 17 year old from the 19th Century. His descriptions of some of the events made me smile as did his tendency to go off on huge tangents which I could well imagine infuriating the judge.

The author does a great job of setting the scene and I soon felt fully transported to mid 19th Century Texas. It’s a period of history that I didn’t know much about and I found it fascinating to learn more about it. I found it quite shocking to see how people lived, worked and in some cases how they treated each other. The tension between the different groups living in Texas in this period helped add to the tension and sense of unease as the group search for the panther.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I’ll definitely be recommending it to others. The book starts off with a bit of a bang and I felt like the pace never really slows down as the story continues. Samantha and Benjamin were two lovely characters who I enjoyed following throughout the book. Samantha was a very brave little girl and I was impressed, though slightly scared, with her determination to catch the panther who killed her mum. There always seemed to be something happening which made the book hard to put down and my growing fondness for the siblings meant I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen to them. The story was quite unpredictable and I wasn’t able to guess which way it was going which I always love. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m now very excited to read more from them in the future.

Huge thanks to Bedford Publishers for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you are looking for a slightly different, action packed Western adventure then I highly recommend this one.

About The Author:

Elizabeth Crook lived in Nacogdoches and then San Marcos, Texas with her parents and brother and sister until age seven when the family moved to Washington D.C., where her father was director of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) for Lyndon Johnson. Her father was later appointed Ambassador to Australia, and the family moved to Canberra. When they returned to Texas Elizabeth attended public schools in San Marcos, graduating from San Marcos High School. She attended Baylor University for two years and graduated from Rice University in 1982. She has written five novels: The Raven’s Bride and Promised Lands, published by Doubleday and reissued by SMU Press as part of the Southwest Life and Letters series; The Night Journal, published by Viking/Penguin; Monday, Monday, published by Sarah Crichton Books, FSG; and The Which Way Tree, to be published by Little, Brown in 2018. Elizabeth has written for periodicals such as Texas Monthly and the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and is a member of Women Writing the West and Western Writers of America. The Night Journal was awarded the 2007 Spur award for Best Long Novel of the West and the 2007 Willa Literary Award for Historical Fiction. Monday, Monday was awarded the 2015 Jesse H. Jones award for fiction.

Book Synopsis:

An unputdownable tale of obsession, jealousy and heartache against the backdrop of WW2

May 1945 and at long last, Rosamund Caradon is feeling optimistic. As she returns the last few evacuees to London from her Devonshire manor, she vows to protect dance-obsessed daughter Jasmine from further peril.

But a chance meeting with a Sadler’s Wells ballet dancer changes everything.

When the beautiful, elusive Briar Woods bursts into Rosamund’s train carriage, it’s clear her sights are set on the immediately captivated Jasmine. And Rosamund cannot shake the eerie feeling this accidental encounter is not what it seems.

For Briar may be far away from the pointe shoes and greasepaint of the Sleeping Beauty ballet that is so much a part of her, but her performance for Rosamund might just be her most successful yet.

This, Briar feels, is a show for a mother and daughter. A dance that could turn deadly…

One of Lucy Popescu’s Books to Look Forward to in 2024 in Camden New Journal

My Review:

The Sleeping Beauties was an absorbing, twisty read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Firstly I thought the author did a great job in setting the scene and I enjoyed exploring post war London alongside the characters. It was interesting to see the aftermath of the war, with bomb sites still visible and the effort that was going into trying to clear all signs of the war so that people could carry on as before. It must have been really hard for people returning to London, wondering if their house was still standing or their loved ones were alright. I felt a lump in my throat watching all the evacuee’s that had been in Rosamund’s care returning home to parents that they didn’t remember and for the parent’s having lost a huge chunk of their kid’s childhood.

The story is told in two timelines of before and after the war as well as two points of view. This sounds like it should be confusing but it was easy to follow. I didn’t particularly like either or the main characters as I didn’t find them particularly likeable though I did feel a degree of sympathy for them and all that they had been through. As a mother myself I did feel very uneasy with Briar’s attention towards Jasmine and I found myself holding my breath as we learn more about the situation there. As the story continued and we find out the whole story I just wished I could reach into the book and grab Jasmine as I was very fearful about what might happen next.

The story does start off a little slowly but soon picks up and becomes very gripping. The two points of view work well together and help to increase the tension in the book as the story switches between characters and the reader learns new things about the situation. There were a surprising number of twists that kept me guessing and I soon found the book hard to put down as I had to keep reading to find out what would be revealed next. The ending, and final twist, was brilliant and I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Oneworld for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

LUCY ASHE is the author of CLARA & OLIVIA (Magpie, Oneworld publications, UK)/ THE DANCE OF THE DOLLS (Union Square & Co, US)

CLARA & OLIVIA is out now in the UK. It was published as THE DANCE OF THE DOLLS in the US in September 2023.

Lucy trained at The Royal Ballet School for eight years, first as a Junior Associate and then at White Lodge. She has a Diploma in Dance Teaching with the British Ballet Organisation.

She studied English Literature at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, while continuing to dance and perform. After graduation, she obtained a PGCE teaching qualification and became an English teacher.

Her poetry and short stories have been published in a number of literary journals and she was shortlisted for the 2020 Impress Prize for New Writers. She also reviews theatre, in particular ballet, writing for the website Playstosee.com.

Lucy’s second novel, THE SLEEPING BEAUTIES, will be published in 2024.