THE HOUSE OF NOW AND THEN by Jo Dixon
What a refreshingly good yarn this
was! It had a lot of themes I love in a mystery: a remote house that harbours
secrets, an old missing person’s case, small town dynamics, new beginnings and
a wonderful atmospheric setting.
Olivia Hayes is a disgraced social
media influencer who has fled to a remote house in the Tasmanian countryside to
hide from the public and some toxic people in her life. One day, a stranger
turns up on her doorstep looking for information regarding an old missing
person’s case connected to the house, which is somehow linked to his recently
deceased father. From this point on, the book slowly unravels the old mystery
whilst telling Olivia’s story as she tries to start a new life.
It's not easy to find a book where both
timelines are equally compelling, but I found both stories intriguing and
believable. Extra points for delivering a very original finale! All in all, THE
HOUSE OF NOW AND THEN was a brilliant debut with enigmatic characters, a divine
armchair travel setting and a mystery that had me eagerly reading late into the
night to find out all the answers. I can’t wait to read more from this author
in future!
ONE OF THE GIRLS by Lucy Clarke
Would you travel to a remote Greek
Island with five friends for a bachelorette party? Hell yes! Give me the
ticket! Of course, I realise that in the world of fiction I would be sharing
the place with someone harbouring a dark secret, someone plotting murder and
the rest of the crew following a hidden agenda that will make me wonder why I
chose these people as friends in the first place. But that’s exactly why I
picked this book up, and it didn’t disappoint on both fronts: the dark secrets
and the divine armchair travel setting.
Bride-to-be Lexi and her five
closest friends have gathered in a luxurious villa on a remote Greek island to
celebrate Lexi’s upcoming wedding. Secretly, each and every one of the women is
wondering what the vivacious Lexi sees in her straight-as-a-die fiancé, but she
seems happy, so that’s all that matters, right? As the women clamour for Lexi’s
attention, friendship dynamics are stretched to breaking point and some hidden
agendas are revealed.
ONE OF THE GIRLS was a light, fun
read that followed a fairly typical storyline of a locked room mystery where
everyone has a secret and things soon start going wrong. Except that perhaps
any of these women could have left at any time, which diluted the tension
somewhat. I enjoyed the dynamics between the women and the final reveal, which
wasn’t as predictable as I had feared. Best of all was the divine armchair
travel to Greece with all the sights and sounds of this picturesque
destination. With intriguing dynamics, a perfect setting and enough intrigue to
keep you guessing, ONE FO THE GIRLS makes for a perfect holiday read.
BRIGHT AND DEADLY THINGS by Lexie Elliott
I’m a sucker for locked room
mysteries, and the setting doesn’t get much better than this: a cozy little
chalet on a mountain in the French Alps. Elliott wonderfully recreated the
remote mountainside location with its obligatory lack of phone reception. The
odd group of people, a bunch of science professors and students from Oxford,
made for some interesting dynamics and I loved the addition of a creepy
element, i.e. the old clock.
This book had real potential to be
taut, suspenseful and creepy, but the pacing seemed a bit off to me and I felt
that the long lead up could have been edited to make the story move a long a
bit better. I also wanted more involvement from the old clock! The malice
emanating from the clock was such a unique, spooky concept, and the old diary
entries from previous visitors to the chalet added a lot of intrigue. Unfortunately,
this all occurred in the later half of the book, when I had almost decided to
dnf because nothing interesting seemed to be happening. I’m glad I didn’t,
because the later part of the story was as action packed and suspenseful as I
had expected from the premise of the story. I’m still thinking about the clock
and its involvement in proceedings – this is the type of element I love in a
mystery! If the first half of the novel had lived up to the later part, the
book could easily have made it on my favourite list.
BRIGHT AND DEADLY THINGS will appeal
to readers who appreciate an atmospheric setting and a locked room mystery that
relies heavily on dynamics between people in a thrown-together group.
Definitely read this if you want some great armchair travel into the French
Alps because the setting is just sublime.
SUN DAMAGE by Sabine Durrant
I first fell in love with Durrant’s
writing when I read LIE WITH ME in 2016, loving the way she portrayed her
flawed, dysfunctional character and how she conjured up a perfect, atmospheric
backdrop for her story.
SUN DAMAGE features similar themes.
Just like her 2016’s Paul Morris counterpart, Ali has made a mess of her life
and has no qualms about cheating others out of their hard-earned cash. And yet,
once I got past the first few chapters, I could not help but feel for her and
found myself firmly on her side as the story unfolded. And then there is the
delicious setting in the South of France: the cute bougainvillea shrouded
houses, sapphire swimming pools, tiny boulangeries selling coffee and tasty
pastries, a hot, languid breeze sweeping in from the South. This was armchair
travel at its best!
With the same skill she used in LIE
WITH ME, the idyllic atmosphere clashed with an escalating threat of tension
and danger, keeping me enthralled until the very end. This is all I am willing
to say, because SUN DAMAGE is the type of book you best jump into blindly and
let it surprise you. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of this story,
which allowed me to fully immerse myself into the atmosphere (and get my daily
step count up by wanting to listen “just a little bit longer” on my walks). A
twisty, well-plotted and character driven mystery that makes for the perfect
beach or holiday read.
SUMMER FEVER by Kate Riordan
I’ve come to the conclusion that
sultry, sexual tension novels about married people having affairs aren’t really
my thing, so take my three stars purely as a personal enjoyment rating.
However, as far as atmospheric, armchair travel settings go, you can’t get much
better than this old villa in the Italian countryside, which kept me reading till
the end and made me feel like handing in my resignation at work, pack my bags
and book a flight to Italy.
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