Category: Adult Fiction

‘When the Dead Come Calling’ – Helen Sedgwick

When the Dead Come Calling is an intriguing read, like no crime novel I’ve read before, and I’m grateful to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication in March 2020.
Set in the northern coastal town of Burrowhead, we get to see a dark underbelly to a seemingly rural idyll. Secrets abound, and there’s a small-town mentality to the characters in this that is both understandable but also scary.
The style is unusual for a crime novel, and may not be to everyone’s tastes.
At the start of the novel we learn of the discovery of a body in the local playground. It is that of a local doctor. His body is discovered by a local police officer, who also happens to be his boyfriend. A note is discovered near his body suggesting that racism could be a factor in this crime.
As I imagine to be common in a police case, details are not immediately forthcoming. We spend what seems like a lot of time trying to work out what is going on, and when another body is discovered to try and establish the links.
What struck me most while reading was that everyone seemed to be harbouring some kind of secret. I don’t want to give away details that affect the reading, but this is definitely a read that becomes more engaging as we learn more about those involved.
Throughout the story I was struck by the references to the past of the village, and the beliefs that seemed to shape the attitudes of those currently living there. I am still unclear as to how some of the references to the Others are linked, but I understand this is the first in a series so we may get answers further in the future.

‘Mix Tape’ – Jane Sanderson

 

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an unexpectedly entertaining read.
Alison Connor has a pretty miserable life as a student in Sheffield. She finds herself a boyfriend, Dan Lawrence, and their shared love of music is just one thing they have in common.

Unfortunately Alison’s life is far from good, and on the day some of the worst things you could imagine happening take place she leaves Sheffield.

Years later she’s married, a successful author and living in Australia. Dan is a music journalist and happy. Then they get in touch…and their fondness for sharing music reawakens something they thought was lost.

I don’t begin to understand why they act as they do, but in the context of the novel it’s plausible. The love of music was a definite bonus, and it certainly gets you wondering what if.

‘Someone Else’s House’ – Jessica Vallance

Sometimes you don’t see how you’re being manipulated, and sometimes the most abusive relationships are those that start so positively.

Our main character in this, Lauren, is introduced to us when she makes the momentous decision to dump her long-standing boyfriend because of his moodiness and emotionally abusive behaviour. She’s, naturally, not immediately at ease with the situation so jumps at the chance to go on holiday with her best friend.

Rather oddly a new friend tags along. They seem to get along okay, but there are little signs that things might not be quite what we expect. Odd things start to happen, and we can’t quite work out how things are going to go.

Without giving too much away, Lauren’s past is important.

Once we start to learn a little more of her past then we can see that certain events have a more sinister feel. The question is not just who is messing with her, but why.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for my thoughts.

 

‘Ninth House’ – Leigh Bardugo

Having seen so many comments about trigger warnings for this book, and people upset at the leap into adult fiction, I was nervous about reading this. I also have to admit that it took a while to get into the rhythm of things. Both these factors make it difficult to give a 5 star rating, though I enjoyed the book a lot and can’t wait to see what comes up in part two.

Our main character is Galaxy ‘Alex’ Stern, a young woman who has not lived the easiest of lives. She’s always been able to see what are known as Grays, the spirits of the deceased. At times these have caused real upset to Alex, and nobody can see them so she’s always been regarded as a little odd. Having then got into drugs Alex is used to finding her own way/being regarded as a problem.

It takes a while for her back story to come out, and this made it difficult to really empathise with her initially. Our focus to start is on her current status as a student at New Haven, assigned to investigate and maintain order over the eight different societies that operate within Yale. Full of high profile students, potentially powerful people, Alex is shocked to learn of their dabbling in the occult and quickly begins to feel out of her depth.

Alongside the mystery of her missing mentor, there’s the issue of a number of unsolved murders and some very dubious goings-on amongst certain groups.
While I was intrigued by the details of the House activity, and was curious to see to what extent we’d see magic at play, I did find it difficult to work out exactly what was going on and really identify with Alex.

There was a point at which things clicked and then I was gripped. A very intriguing ending which bodes well for book two, but I do wish this step-up a gear had come a little sooner.

 

‘Woman in the Water’ – Katerina Diamond

Detectives Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey are now in a relationship, though that’s not common knowledge at work. However, on this case things come too close to home and it has serious repercussions for both.

On his way into work Miles stops as some women think their children saw a body in the water. Upon investigation, it is a woman…and she’s alive. Someone wanted her dead, but there’s no signs of robbery or sexual assault. It becomes a matter of some urgency to work out what on earth happened when the beaten body of a young man is also found nearby.

Before we know it we’ve been pulled into a very dark place. This isn’t a ‘whodunnit’, but a trying to pull it together to prove they did it kind of story.
We focus on Angela Corrigan, the much younger wife of local businessman Reece. Nobody will speak out against him, and though we’ve strong reason to believe he’s been up to all sorts of things nobody will talk, and there’s no evidence.

It’s testimony to the bullishness of these two Detectives that we get anywhere. However, it comes at awful personal expense.

Adrian Miles suffers in the course of this investigation in a way that you cannot begin to imagine. It’s brutal, totally demeaning and the disgust I felt as we learn the extent of the wrongdoings against not just him but so many others was upsetting.

While it was a dark story that was not, in any way, enjoyable to read, I am intrigued at the potential for where this might go next.

Thanks to Diamond and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts, prior to its publication in November 2019.

 

‘Believe Me’ – J.P. Delaney

The title of this immediately brought to mind the Simon Armitage poem ‘I am very bothered’ since we’re never 100% certain of the narrator’s honest thoughts.
Our story focuses on a young English actress, Claire Wright, who’s trying to earn her living in America by trying to entrap men whose wives think they’re being unfaithful. She cannot ever proposition them, and she doesn’t have sex with them but she promises it and films the men so that their wives have evidence of infidelity. She has a great success rate, until she’s asked to proposition Patrick Fogler.

Later that evening we learn that Patrick’s wife, Stella, has been found murdered. There’s a definite suspicion that a serial killer is on the loose, but Claire is also under suspicion. And so begins a very strange sequence of events.

Claire is asked to work with the police to try and gather evidence to ascertain the likelihood of Fogler being their killer. She enters a dark and potentially dangerous place as she throws herself into her latest role.

While I enjoyed this thoroughly, the artifice surrounding Claire made it hard for me to really engage with her situation. I wasn’t sure how reliable her interactions were, so I felt quite removed from things as I looked for loopholes or things that cropped up unexpectedly.

I’m grateful to NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication in exchange for my thoughts.

 

‘Someone We Know’ – Shari Lapena

 

Raleigh is a fairly typical 16 year old, but when his mum reads a text sent by one of his friends she learns something pretty unpleasant about him. He’s broken into local neighbourhood homes. He confesses pretty quickly, but not to everything he was doing in the houses or the number of houses he went into.

His mum is, understandably, horrified and seeks the advice of a lawyer. His advice is to sit tight and admit to nothing. Raleigh will not be guilty of anything if nobody knows a crime has been committed. His mother is horrified by this advice and writes an anonymous letter to each of the victims.

Unfortunately, one of the homes Raleigh broke into belongs to the Pierces. Amanda was reported missing by her husband, and when her beaten body is fished out of a local lake we know there is more to this.

On one hand there’s the family trying to protect their son, and then there’s the mystery of the dead woman and who had incentive to kill her. Alongside this is new to the neighbourhood Carmine, desperate to solve the mystery of who broke into her home.

The main feeling I had as I read this was a kind of grim fascination. So many characters were hiding things, and there were a lot of secrets unearthed implicating any number of people. Nobody in their right mind would want to live in this neighbourhood!

Eventually, the net draws tighter and the truth is squeezed out. It wasn’t wholly unexpected but it certainly made me want to draw the curtains, lock the doors and keep myself well and truly isolated.

 

‘All We Ever Wanted’ – Emily Giffin

There’s no escaping the fact that this is a tough read, particularly when you stop to think about the implications.

Nina has got used to her lavish lifestyle. Through some shrewd business dealings her family are seriously wealthy, and that brings with it a certain amount of respect within their community. Her son, Finch, has just got into Princeton but that doesn’t prevent him doing something unbelievably crass which jeopardises everything he’s worked for.

Our first alert to the issue is mum being told by a ‘concerned’ friend (who you can tell is just loving it) that her son has taken a picture of a young girl from his school. The girl is clearly passed out, exposed and there’s a racist comment posted underneath. Immediately we want to know what comes next.

The novel doesn’t disappoint on that respect. We get a range of viewpoints so we can gauge the situation’s impact. Nina immediately shows concern for the girl, Lyla, and the emotional consequences of her son’s actions. His father, Kirk, believes that throwing money at the situation will resolve things. Lyla is embarrassed and wants to downplay things, believing her crush wouldn’t mean harm. Her father is angry, and wants to protect his daughter.

As we watch things unfold we can see just how devastating certain attitudes can be. As a parent it made me so worried. Just how much do we influence our children? What do we do if they make decisions at odds with our beliefs?

This is not a book that offers easy answers. No-one comes out of these events unscathed: and some are certainly more impacted than others. It made me angry, and desperately hoping that no son of mine ever feels it’s okay to support such attitudes.

‘The Institute’ – Stephen King

I’ve always had a mixed response to the Stephen King books I’ve read. The sense of horror and unease always creeps me out, and yet there’s usually a point in the book where things cross into implausible or are exaggerated to the degree that I find it irritating. There’s so much about his writing that sucks you in, but I always have a moment where something jars and it doesn’t quite seem to work. With The Institute this didn’t quite happen.

The concept to this immediately intrigued me, so I was rather surprised when the opening focused on Tim Jamieson and his decision to get off an overcrowded plane before ending up in the small town of Du Pray where he became a night knocker. It didn’t seem to make sense, so I was immediately intrigued to see how this element would be incorporated.

Our main character is Luke, an exceptionally talented kid who, at twelve, is being touted to attend two colleges. Unfortunately, before this can happen Luke’s parents are killed, he is drugged and taken across country to The Institute. What we then experience through Luke is an experiment of unimaginable horror.
Perhaps because this is told through Luke’s perspective, there’s a lot about The Institute that we don’t get told. There are hints of some of the things taking place, but even the small glimpses we did get were enough to have me scared. The group of teens/kids that are at this place though were all fascinating. The suggestion of what was being undertaken there was just plausible enough to have you wondering ‘what if’. It also raised some very interesting questions about the extent to which the mind could be manipulated.

While I can’t help but feel the whole thing was quite unlikely, my heart was definitely rooting for Luke as he undertook his dangerous game. As things drew together, Tim’s role became clearer. As things drew to a close the action was ramped up, and yet it didn’t seem off-putting. The final hints of a much bigger picture suggest King is happy for us to fear establishment and question the extent to which we are controlled. It certainly wasn’t neatly packed-up but it was enough.

 

‘Lullaby’ – Leila Slimani

I’ve had Lullaby on my bookcase for ages, but never really felt I could face reading it because of the subject. After reading the opening, which is pretty graphic, describing the violent way in which the nanny has attacked her two young charges I felt vindicated in not having picked it up earlier. What on earth would possess someone paid to care for children to attack them?

Having opened in this way it was inevitable that time would then have to be spent plotting the lead to this event. We get to see Myriam and Paul adjusting to life as parents, and Myriam’s resentment of her husband which leads to the decision to find a nanny. I felt the attitude of these parents was quite disturbing. They wanted cheap childcare but felt a sense of superiority over the women they were interviewing.

When they meet Louise she’s given glowing referrals, immediately bonds with the children and – before we know it – she’s hired. There’s then a slow creeping sense of unease as we watch Louise insidiously work her way into the very heart of the family. She cleans, cooks, keeps the children entertained and seems a regular Mary Poppins.

Having seen how this turns out, we’re acutely conscious of any signs of a problem. Initially it seemed as if Louise might end up having an affair with Paul, but the reality was much more scary. The family need her, but not as much as Louise seems to need them. Her declining mental health was hinted at, but each character was exhibiting signs that they could cause a problem.

As I neared the end of the book I was struck by the ambiguity of the situation. There’s no evident resolution, and yet this felt more appropriate than tying things up neatly. I feel this will sit with me for some time.