Unusual Happenings and Creepiness

During August I was reading books about murders and stalking. Crossing the Lines by Sulari Gentill This was an interesting novel it was about writers, artists and a murder. Madeleine d’Leon was a lawyer and a writer of crime novels. When Madeline was writing she became totally absorbed and spent most of her days in her pyjamas.

Edward McGinnity was a literary writer, Madeleine wrote about Edward and gradually added background information to explain why he behaved the way he did at the same time Edward was writing about Madeleine.
The novel switches back and forward between Madeleine and Edward. Edward tries to clear himself as a murder suspect and Madeleine tries to convince her husband she is not suffering from depression.

Another book I was reading in early August was The Watcher by Ross Armstrong, this book was set in East London in the present time. Lily lives in an apartment with her husband Aiden and spends her time bird watching and also watching her neighbors in the opposite tower block Unusual things happen and people behave suspiciously. When an old woman is murdered Lily tries to tell the police what she saw but they are not interested. So she sets out to find her own evidence but soon is also in danger.
We had a weeks holiday staying at Launceston late in August so I did not do a lot of reading, we stayed in a really old building. On our first night I could hear people whispering, but the walls were too thick to hear anyone from another room. I went back to sleep and was woken again by more whispering, it was all a bit spooky. Two days later I saw an outline of a person near the bed and they faded away. It was all too spooky for me. The next day I did a google search on the building we were staying in and discovered a person had been murdered in one of the rooms in 2012.

Houses, Secrets and More Stalking

In June and July I was reading books about houses. While on holiday in Queensland on the way home I saw an old stone house on the side if the road near the town of Moore. The house was falling down and not in very good condition, I did some research about it when I got home and discovered some history about the old house.

Some houses just reach out to you and give you the feeling that there is a story hidden in it's walls. The house in House of Secrets by Lynda Stacey had a lot of secrets waiting to be discovered. The book is set in the present time in the UK. It is about relationships, stalking and secrets. Madeleine is a single mother, who has written four novels. Her new relationship with Liam is falling apart and her young daughter Poppy is afraid of him.

Madeleine's half sister Jess encourages Madeleine to leave Liam. Madeleine and Poppy move into an old Victorian Hotel owned by her father.

They settle in to a new life. Madeleine discovers an old diary from the 1940's and starts to unravel secrets about the hotel and the previous owners, meanwhile someone is creeping around and soon tragedy strikes.

Another book I enjoyed was Lies she told by Cate Holoha This book is set in the present time and mostly in New York.

Liza is an author. Her editor is not happy with her latest book and wants her to write about mind games and psychological manipulation.

 Liza has a difficult relationship with her husband and struggles with the side effects from taking fertility treatment. The fertility treatment causes forgetfulness, headaches and nausea. Liza’s husband David struggles with extra work load in his law firm since the disappearance of his co-worker and best friend Nick.

The book swings between Liza’s life and the life of Beth the protagonist of her latest novel. Liza’s latest novel is a romantic suspense. Beth has secrets and tells lies to her husband and Liza has a secret life that has been buried and forgotten. Only her best friend Chris knows about Liza’s childhood.

This story will keep you guessing to the very end. I loved every bit and couldn’t wait to turn another page. The pace was fast and the transitions between Beth’s story and Liza’s story worked well.

The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

Publisher Simon & Schuster 2017

This book is set in London in the present time. It is about two pregnant women and their different lives. Agatha is single and works in a grocery store stocking shelves and Meghan writes a parenting blog, has two children and has a life that Agatha sees as perfect.

Agatha spends all her spare time watching Meghan, every day finding out a little bit more about her life and habits.

Meghan has secrets and her husband also has secrets, Agatha discovers some of their secrets but not all of them.

Agatha has secrets also.

This book has a sinister creepy feel to it. Gradually the lives of Meghan and her husband Jack and Jack’s best mate Simon are revealed and slowly find out what Agatha plans to do. Each chapter switches between Meghan and Agatha.

At the end of July 2017 I finished reading The Dog Walker by Lesley Thomson. I like Lesley Thomson books, she has the same characters but the books can be read alone. Stella runs a cleaning business, with her mother Suzie helping with the books. Jack is one of her cleaners. Jack and Stella have detective agency and investigate murders. Stella is employed to clean and investigate strange activities in a cottage on the Thames. At the same time Stella is also asked to investigate the disappearance of a woman from a nearby cottage 29 years earlier.

This book is about secrets, family relationships, missing people, murder, stalking, OCD, cleaning and dogs.  I love the Jack creeps around at night.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Stalking

During May and June I enjoyed some interesting books that included people with obsessive compulsive disorders and stalking.

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriary was set in Australia and was about a cellist. It is also about friendships, relationships, families, secrets and obsessive compulsive disorders.

The House by Simon Lelic I chose to read this book because of the title. I love reading books about old houses and their contents.

Jack and Syd buy an old house in London. The house was full of the previous owner’s belongings.

There were books, clothes, pictures, photos, furniture and boxes. Jack described the contents as junk. Jack thought the house was creepy but Syd was smitten.

Strange things happen, creepy and ghostly. Jack finds a dead cat in the attic and other things.

Syd befriends a young girl living in a house nearby. Meanwhile someone is watching their movements and stalking them.

This book is about secrets, family relationships, revenge and murder. It is paced quickly, with both Jack and Syd telling their versions of what led them to buy the house and what happened when they moved in.

Did not do a lot of reading in June because we went on a ten day road trip along the coast of Queensland. We took our twelve year old granddaughter. While driving we played car bingo with lots of loud discussion about who saw something first and who said Bingo first. I was too tired to do much reading.

I did manage to finish reading Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova this novel was set in Bulgaria in the present time with flash backs to the 1950's.

Alexandra accidentally picks up a case with a precious item that belongs to someone else. She sets out to return the case helped by a taxi driver. Their quest takes them all over Bulgaria.

Identity and Secrets. 

A subject I love in my reading. At the end of March and all of April I was reading some fantastic novels about Identity, secrets and families.

I really like the e-book from Net Galley I Found You by Lisa Jewell I enjoyed the way Lisa wrote small chapters with la little bit being revealed about different points of view about the main characters in the story. A young woman is left on her own, her husband goes missing and she sets out to find him, with only a clue - a phone number.

In another town Alice finds a man sitting on the beach - he has lost his memory. Alice is lonely and dis-organised, she has three children all with different fathers. Her best friend keeps her organised.

Alice gives the lost man a home and a name and tries to help him regain his memory.

Meanwhile 23 years earlier in the same town another person goes missing and Gray tries to protect his younger sister from a man they meet on the beach.

Early in April I finished reading The Girl Before by J. P. Delaney. This was about an architect who wanted to control how people lived in buildings he designed. People were given cheap rent on condition that they followed all the rules. The house at One Folgate Street was perfect for Emma. Emma was hoping for a new start in a building with better security. Emma had secrets and she soon discovered the owner and architect had secrets.

Jane moved in after Emma and gradually discovered the house secrets and Emma's secrets but there were still secrets left to be discovered.

I loved the way this book was written. Each chapter unraveling a little bit of what is happening in the house and gradually revealing Emma's secret. A quick easy read.

More Secrets and History

Spindrift by Tamara McKinley an E-Book from Net Galley had a theme I enjoy about families, history and secrets. This was a novel set in 1904, Christy lives in Tasmania. Her husband has just died and her children and grandchildren live in other states of Australia.

Christy and her daughter Ann and granddaughter Kathryn go to Scotland and Skye, so Christy can revisit her birthplace and put her memories to rest. Along the way Christy gradually tells her life story to her daughter and granddaughter revealing the tragedy of her early life and the decision to leave Scotland and travel to Tasmania.

Christy has secrets about her early days in Australia and while she is away someone in Australia sets out to reveal Christy's secret and make a claim on her property. Christy's two sons and soninlaw are left to fight the claim in their mother's absense. 

I loved the way history was told in Skye and back in Australia in the life on the goldfields.

Love and Belonging

Keep Me Safe by Daniela Sacerdoti this was an e-book from Net Galley. I loved this book, the cover grabbed my attention as soon as I saw it, blue sky, blue ocean and a girl in a red coat.

Anna takes her six year old daughter Ava to a small Island called Seal.

This is about loss, guilt and love. Anna and Ava are enfolded into a community of Seal and rediscover love and a senses of belonging.

The main characters tell their story as it unfolds gradually revealing a tragedy that happened 15 years earlier.

It is set in the present time with flashbacks to earlier events. this book was well written, easy to read, makes you want to read just a little bit more to see what happens.

Secrets, Lies and Family Relationships

Keeping with my theme of identity and secrets I was drawn to e-book from Net Galley that was a mystery and a thriller and lots of secrets.

Are you sleeping by Kathleen Barber starts with a creepy phone call at 3 am that unsettles Jo and brings back buried memories of her sister who she hasn't seen for ten years. Not long after the phone call Jo hears about a podcast started by Poppy Parnell. Everyone is talking about it. Poppy Parnell is an investigative journalist who is using her podcast to look at evidence and uncover the truth of who murdered Jo's father ten years earlier. Jo and her partner Caleb live in New York. Jo has changed her name and Caleb does not know about her family.

This is a psychological thriller mystery full of secrets, lies and family relationships.

Identity and History

A nice easy read to finish off my April reading was an e-book from Net Galley Letters from Italy by Pamela Hart. This book was set in Italy during the First World War. Rebecca is in Italy with her husband Jack during the First World War and they are journalists from Australia reporting on the war. While Jack is away reporting on the resistance movement against the Austrian’s Rebecca struggles to work on her own her own as a war correspondent. She teams up with a photographer to give her a better chance in a male dominated field of journalists clamoring to get the best stories. 

 

History and Collectibles

During February and March I was busy reading books about people who collect or restore old furniture and about art agents who asses and authenticate collections of art.

Early in February I finished reading an E-Book from Richmond Tweed Regional Library, it was called Pillow Stalk A Mad For Mod Mystery by Diane Vallere. Madison owns a business Mad For Mod and decorates people's houses in the 50's and 60's style. To get her props, Madison contacts families after someone in their old age dies so she can purchase furniture, clothes and nick nacks to help with her decorating task.

When Madison contacts Mr Johnson she stumbles into a murder investigation because of her love for Doris Day - the way she dresses, her looks and interests in all things involving Doris Day. 

Another book about collections was The Paris Secret by Karen Swan. Flora Sykes is an Art Agent and is hired to assess and authenticate a large collection of works of art that were found locked up in a forgotten apartment.

The Last Night by Cesca Major was a book that grabbed my attention and was quick to read it was about two different women one from the present time and one from the 1950's. Irina is sent an antique bureau to restore. In the process of restoring it, Irina finds postcards and objects - Irina is haunted by the bureau and is driven to find out who owned the objects.

In another time and a different village Abigail is coming to terms with her bereavement and adjusting to changed circumstances of living with her sister and brother in law. Abigail has secrets and longs to leave. A catastrophe changes her life and many other.

In March I was reading Paper Hearts and Summer Kisses by Carole Matthews a book about a divorced woman Christie bringing up her son Finn with the help or her parents. Christie's mother sends an application for a craft job for Christie. Christie's world is full of craft and card making.

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Gray. A young woman inherits an apartment in Paris with all the contents. The apartment has not been opened or entered since 1940. Cat tries to find the reason she was left the apartment and not the daughter of the person who owned it. Cat travels to different towns and villages in France talking to people and following clues to find the answer to the mystery. I loved this book it was a bit like The Paris Secret by Karen Swan.

Following on the theme of collectibles but on a slightly different slant I finished reading an E-Book from the Borrow Box on my Iphone Murderabilia by Craig Robertson. This was a book about people who collected personal items and memorabilia of murders and murderer's.

Summer Reading

Not much reading early January 2017. We had visitors and it was too hot. Some books I did read were:

The Secret Heiress by Luke Devenish set in Australia at Summersby House in Victoria. The time period is 1886 and 1903. Ida and Biddy work at Summersby House as servents. This book is about identity, twins, secrets and hidden messages.

Also finished reading Putting Alice Together by Carol Marinell this book was about families, relationships, friendship. Alice tries to live a normal life but struggles with family issues and credit card debt and a big secret.

In the last two weeks of January I finished reading Sleepers Castle by Barbara Erskine This was about an ancient house in Wales near Hay. It was set in the present time and also 1400. Andy goes to stay at a friends old house in Wales for a year to escape Rhona.

Andy discovers she can transport herself back to her old house in Kew while she dreams. But Rhona is living in her old house and is able to see Andy spying on her.

In the old house Andy can see ghosts of the previous occupiers, Catrin and her father. Catrin and her father can see Andy. Andy see Catrin's story through her dreams and wants to find out what happened to Catrin and her father. 

I loved the way this book switched between the present time and 1400. There was evil in the 1400 but Rhona also was trying to to hurt Andy through evil deed.

Christmas In Paris by Anita Hughes was a nice romance. Isabel Lawson has two broken engagements and decides to spend Christmas in Paris to get over her recent broken engagement. She meets Alec who is also getting over a broken engagement.

Reading Time 

In November I was reading some interesting books that featured the Bronte family, both books were very enjoyable. The Women's Page by Debra Adelaide a novel set in Australia, mostly in the 1960's. It is about two woman - Dove is writing a novel about Ellis. The novel is about choices people make, secrets and half forgotten memories. Dove keeps comparing parts of her life life to Wuthering Heights and Emily Bronte. Another good book by Debra Adelaide was Household guide to Dying.

At the same time that I was reading The Women's Page I was also reading The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay a novel about a young woman who works at Sid McKenna Antiques and Design. Lucy Alling looks after the books and also assists Sid with orders and sales.

Lucy has a special interest in the book Jane Eyre and all the Bronte family. Lucy has a secret - which ruins her chance of romance James. James' grandmother asks Lucy to go with her to England to help purchase some antiques and also have a literary excursion to some of Lucy's favorite places, especially Haworth. Helen has a secret and she needs Lucy to help to put right.

This book was about secrets and family relationships.

Another book I finished reading was also about secrets, families, an old crumbling neglected house and butterflies.   The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans. This book was set in London and Cornwall. It was about Nina Parr and her family. Nina's father went missing when she was a baby. Her mother had help from Mrs Poll in raising Nina. When Nina is 25 she starts receiving messages that she needs to find Keepsake, her family's ancestry home.

I loved this book because of the secrets and the old house. While I was reading this book I noticed there were butterflies everywhere when I went walking at home.

In December I was reading Tattletale by Sarah S Naughton  An E-Book from NetGalley. Once I started reading this book it was hard to put down. I just wanted to keep reading just a little bit more. Abe falls over the railing from the fourth floor of an old converted church. He sustains serious injuries and is in a coma.

Jody lives in the next door unit on the fourth floor, she claims to be Abe's fiance and was with him Abe prior to the accident.

Abe's sister Mag's is called.  Gradually she discovers that there is a lot more to Abe's life. Abe and Jody's stories are unraveled but there is something missing.

I could not put down this psychological thriller. 

Book Roundup

Books I have enjoyed in August, September and October 2016. Life's been busy and I haven't had time to add reviews in this blog. I have kept a book journal with lists of books and authors I like and a quick description of what I have been reading. Last week I bought a new book journal to record my reading journey. This was my third reading journal since 2007.

In August 2016 I finished reading The House With No Rooms by Lesley Thompson. Another good murder mystery. I really enjoy reading books by Lesley Thompson. I like the characters. Stella Darnell and her friend Jack help a detective solve a murder.

Stella Darnell is the daughter of a detective. Stella is obsessed with cleaning and has a cleaning business. Her friend Jack drives trains at night and helps clean in the mornings. When he is not working he stalks murderers or people he thinks are capable of being murderers.

This week I finished reading The Dog Walker by Lesley Thompson, Again Stella Darnell and her friend Jack are involved in solving a murder. Stella Darnell runs a cleaning business and a detective agency. The book is set in the present time in London and revolves around a small area on the edge of the Thames where there is a number of cottages. One of the owners has a problem with strange noises in her cottage and hires Stella to discover the source of  the noise and to dispel stories that the house is haunted. Another owner of one of the cottages hires Stella to help solve a 30 year old murder case. This novel was full of secrets and family relationships. Jack crept around at night in and around the cottages finding clues while Stella spent time talking to the residents of the cottages.

In September 2016 I read some murder mysteries, romance and a book about witches.

Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton as usual another gripping murder mystery that keeps you guessing right to the end. Four women go missing, three bodies are found hidden in caves .Hammish Wolfe is locked up for their murders. Maggie Rose is a crime writer and lawyer is asked to represent Hammish to clear his name. 

The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brockston  a story about a woman whose mother was hung after being accused of being a witch. Bess surviving over many centuries taking on new identities but always trying to hide from Gideon.

All She Ever Wished For By Claudia Carroll I found this book easy to read. I liked the characters. it is about a wealthy couple who have separated and a young woman about to get married. I enjoyed the romance. If you like Cathererine Alliott or Jill Mansell you would enjoy this book. It is set in Ireland and is quickly paced.

Abstract Aliases by Ritter Ames this was a quick easy read, the pace was fast, lots of characters and non stop action. It was set in the UK, Europe and New York. It was the third in a series of Bodies of Art Mystery.

In October 2016 I was reading crime books with stolen identities also Murder mysteris and stalking and books about old houses. I love reading.

I especially love books by Louise Millar. City of Strangers by Louise Millar was an E book provided through NetGalley. The cover of this book set the scene of the sense of unknown, secrets and scrawled messages. Grace is obsessed with the identity of a man she finds dead in her flat. 

Following a clue she finds scrawled on an old envelope she sets out to find out who the man is.
Grace is helped by Ewan. Ewan works at Scots Today for Sula McGregor, who is a crime writer.

The novel is fast paced, with lots of action and car chases. It is set in Edinburgh, London and Europe.
The story switches between Grace searching for the identity of the dead man and Sula McGregor following clues for a double murder in Edinburgh. Ewan is helping Grace and Sula. 

A novel about stolen identities, crime and family tragedies.

Stalker by Lars Kelper this crime novel is set mostly in Stokholm. It is about a murderer her films victims and sends the film to the police just before murdering the victim.

It makes you afraid of who could be outside watching. It took a while to read 523 pages, but well worth the effort to finish.

At the end of October I finished reading On Turpentine Lane by Elinor Lipman set in Everton, Massachusetts in the present time. Faith Frankel buys a small cottage at number 10 on Turpentine Lane. The cottage is old and needs a lot of repairs. Faith finds a small package in the attic and the police are interested in investigating her cellar. What is the connection between the package and the attic and what happened in the cellar?

This book is about families, relationships and identities.


Also read another E book from NetGalley Beyond the Orchard by Anna Romer  - Lucy Briar comes home to Melbourne from London to see her grandfather who needs to give her something that will explain everything. Lucy’s grandfather dies before she gets to see him. Her father is unwell so Lucy travels to her grandfather’s house to clean out the house and sort out family papers and to find a photograph album that her father wants.

Most of the novel is set in 1993 but jumps back in time to 1929 and 1931 and also to 1977.

Lucy’s grandfather lived at a house called Bitterwood that was once a guest house near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

Lucy’s father is an author who writes twisted fairy tales. Lucy is an artist and illustrates her father’s novels.

I loved the way the novel jumped back and forward in time to different places and events to tell a story and the way Lucy unraveled the family secret hidden in Bitterwood.

This novel is about an old guest house, family secrets, relationships, lost love and romance.

Beyond the Orchard by Anna Romer was everything that I love in a book, old houses and family secrets