Recent reads with divine armchair travel settings

 

 

The German language has it all sussed when it comes to the desire to travel, devoting two words solely to that longing for distant shores: "Wanderlust" (joy / desire to wander) and "Fernweh" (translated as "distance-pain", the ache to travel to distant shores). So if you are suffering from this ailment but are stuck at home and work, why not indulge in some delicious armchair travel? These five books recently ticked all the boxes on my armchair travel list, even though they didn't cure my longing but made me want to buy an airline ticket there and then!

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.

Last will and testament - two gripping thrillers featuring inheritance and family secrets

THE WILL by Rebecca Reid

 

There’s nothing better than a juicy story about a tense family reunion, but Reid spices her tale up even more by throwing in the last will and testament of the family’s matriarch, Cecily, which will decide who gets to inherit the family’s estate Roxborough Hall. The Mordaunts have never held with the tradition of bequeathing the estate to the eldest son. Instead, after the death of the latest custodian, the family must gather for supper, when each member will receive a letter telling them whether they are the lucky recipients of the family fortune. It could be anyone, and every single member of the Mordaunt family secretly hopes that it will be them. Some of them will even be prepared to fight for the privilege …

 

I found THE WILL utterly compelling and unputdownable, as the eight Mordaunt siblings and their spouses gather to find out who will be the next custodian of Roxborough Hall. The dynamics between the siblings were fascinating, and it wasn’t long before all the skeletons came dancing out of the family’s closets. Jumping back and forth between the past and the present, we soon get a first-row insight into this family’s complicated past, including those things they had wished would stay forever hidden.

 

Each person is vividly drawn and complex, and there were so many surprises in store that I could not tear myself away until I found out who matriarch Cecily had found worthy to bequeath the old mansion to. The answer was also quite unexpected! Reid writes with insight and a vitality that made this story come to life for me, and I can’t wait to read more from her in future.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

THE HIDDEN LEGACY by G. J. Minett

 

Old family secrets are always fascinating for me, especially when they come packaged with an old, cluttered house that was gifted to the (un)lucky recipient in a will. The premise of snooping through mildewed papers and looking for treasures in dark, hidden crevices has a certain thrill that always draws me in.

 

When Ellen Sutherland finds out that she has been gifted an old, picturesque cottage in the Cotswolds in the will of an old lady, Eudora Nash, she is surprised and a little bit sceptical. She has no idea who Eudora Nash was, and how they were related, because Ellen has never even heard the name. Since her mother’s diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s, there is no one in the family she can ask, and Eudora’s solicitor also doesn’t have the answers to that particular puzzle. Then follows the arrival of an investigative journalist posing as an old family friend, and a break-in at the cottage, which sets off Ellen’s alarm bells. What secrets lay hidden in the old cottage? And how will she get answers to the many questions she wants to ask?

 

Unlike Ellen, the reader has the advantage of getting a few early clues as to the identity of the mysterious Eudora, though the way the story unrolled through timelines in the past and the present still held plenty of surprises in store. I loved the slow unravelling of clues as Ellen sets out on her quest to find answers, whilst the chapters set in the past held their own morbid fascination. Revolving around a horrific playground killing by a twelve-year-old boy, this was a mystery all of its own, as horrific and shocking as it was thought provoking and moving.

 

Minett writes with the ease of a seasoned writer who knows how to bring his characters to life, and yet I found out that this is a debut novel. I particularly liked the way I was determined to have my loyalties firmly set, and yet had all my beliefs challenged along the way, thinking quite differently about one of the characters towards the end whilst feeling this was no manipulation on Minett’s part, just a gentle nudging to remain open minded. I love novels that challenge our fixed belief systems, and THE HIDDEN LEGACY managed to do just that. I am trying to not give too much away here, so will stay purposely vague, though I would love to discuss many aspects of this novel in a book group, as different emotions and opinions will undoubtedly be triggered in different readers.

 

I’m surprised that this novel hasn’t gotten a lot more hype because it is a solid and very intriguing psychological thriller that kept me enthralled until the very end. I opted for the audio version narrated by Jessica Carroll, whose narration brought each character to life and made for great listening. If you appreciate a dark psychological thriller that is set to challenge your thinking and may give you an ethical dilemma or two, then you can’t go wrong with his book. 

🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

More inheritance themed books you might like:

5-Star Book Review: THE ONLY SURVIVORS by Megan Miranda

 

Title: THE ONLY SURVIVORS

Author:  Megan Miranda

Read: June 2023

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

A mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.

My musings:

 

I love Megan Miranda’s books – she is the queen of the atmospheric, character driven slow-burn, and her latest novel was no exception. Here the premise was particularly fascinating: ten years ago, nine teenagers survived a terrible accident on a school trip in which twelve of their classmates died. To mark the anniversary of that tragic day, the survivors meet every year in a remote beach house to support one another and check in on each other, especially since one of them committed suicide a few years ago. This year, another one of their group is absent after having taken a fatal overdose, shaking them to the core. Tension escalates as it becomes obvious that someone is playing mind games with the last survivors remaining. Has someone found out the secret they’ve been hiding all these years?

 

Told through the different POVs of the remaining survivors – Cassidy, Josh, Brody, Hollis, Amaya, Oliver and Grace – Miranda slowly lets the reader in on the reasons this group have been meeting faithfully every year, despite living very separate lives. With her hallmark atmospheric setting – a remote beach house that is being cut off from town by a violent storm hitting the coast – Miranda traps her characters in a confined space and lets tensions escalate and old grudges resurface, with some surprising results.

 

I particularly enjoyed the premise of people tied together by a shared tragedy, with all the guilt, recriminations and trauma that follows such an event. Details of the accident itself are only gradually revealed through each individual survivor’s flashbacks, which provided both foreshadowing as well as an underlying sense of dread and danger as the group realise that they may be in danger. Whilst sometimes multiple POVs only serve to fragment a story, I felt it added to the sense of different reality each survivor held on to, another fascinating aspect of shared trauma. Miranda astutely portrays each one of her damaged characters so well that every chapter held equal interest for me, and I was eager to find out the answers.

 

Summary:

 

A fascinating premise, a claustrophobic atmospheric setting and clever structure of a story full of hidden secrets made THE ONLY SURVIVORS another hit for me as Miranda’s books have done in the past. This is an author who never disappoints, and I can’t wait to see what she will come up with next.

5-Star Book Review: THE BIRD HOTEL by Joyce Maynard

 

Title: The Bird Hotel

Author:  Joyce Maynard

Read: June 2023

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

After a childhood filled with heartbreak, Irene, a talented artist, finds herself in a small Central American village where she checks into a beautiful but decaying lakefront hotel called La Llorona at the base of a volcano. 
 
The Bird Hotel tells the story of this young American who, after suffering tragedy, restores and runs La Llorona. Along the way we meet a rich assortment of characters who live in the village or come to stay at the hotel. With a mystery at its center and filled with warmth, drama, romance, humor, pop culture, and a little magic realism, The Bird Hotel has all the hallmarks of a Joyce Maynard novel that have made her a a leading voice of her generation. 

My musings:

 

What a beautiful, atmospheric books this was, full of the lyrical language, keen observations and magic that makes Maynard one of my favourite authors. I was hooked as soon as I met Irene, a young woman who has had to endure more than her fair share of tragedy and death. Desolate, and without much hope for the future, she boards a bus into the unknown and finds herself in a little Central American village at the edge of a large lake and at the foot of a volcano.

 

During Irene’s stay at La Llorona she comes not contact with a wide range of people, whose fate has brought them to this remote place, and whose lives will be forever changed after leaving here. As La Llorona becomes home for her, Irene slowly shakes off the layers of her grief and hopelessness that have ruled her life. But there are still some surprises in store for her …

 

Told through the eyes of Irene and flicking back and forth between the 1960s and the present, THE BIRD HOTEL was a heartwarming and magical story about loss, grief and starting afresh, peppered with a rich cast of unforgettable side characters. With her unflinching eye for detail and innate understanding of the human psyche, Maynard delivers us protagonists that are as flesh and blood as the people we have known all our lives, set against an atmospheric backdrop of a small Mayan village. Whilst Maynard clarifies that she has written the novel purely from the perspective of an expat, her rich details about Mayan life and culture were fascinating and made for wonderful armchair travel. I dare you not to be touched by at least one of the human tales in this story – I know that I shed a few tears along the way.

 

THE BIRD HOTEL is the type of immersive, enchanting story that makes Maynard such a great writer and sent this book straight to my favourites list. I loved every minute of it and thought about its characters long after finishing it. All the stars from me!

5-Star Book Review: THE FAMILY GAME by Catherine Steadman

 

 

Title: The Family Game

Author:  Catherine Steadman

Read: May 2023

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: all the stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they've dominated headlines and pulled society's strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in . . .

My musings:

This books was sooooo good! Sinister games are one of my favourite themes in a thriller, and Steadman knows how to spin an evil web containing all the elements that made for a great read.

 

Here we have Harriet (Harry), who has just landed herself the perfect man: handsome, caring and super rich. You know when something looks too good to be true? It usually is. The obvious fly in her ointment is that Edward comes with a family, who are used to getting their own way and won’t take no for an answer. They also like playing games that give the Struwwelpeter  a run for his money. I am not a shrinking violet, having grown up with the legend of Krampus, and the creature itself regularly knocking on our door on the 5^th of December to check for naughty children (I am very good at hiding now). If you have no idea what I am talking about, you need to read this book! To put it in plain English, the Holbecks set their stakes high, and you either win or lose – even if it means life or limb.

 

I loved the whole premise of people playing dangerous games in their old stately mansion in the woods, which added a nice atmospheric touch. I also appreciated how Steadman managed the balance of making her character just damaged enough to give her a dark past, and yet still hold our loyalty. Harriet is a plucky heroine, which set the story off on a trajectory that could only end in disaster.

 

With tensions soon escalating and a permanent sense of foreboding overshadowing the story, I could not tear myself away. The audiobook added even more tension, as it allowed full immersion without distraction, and Steadman made her book proud by narrating it herself and giving life to her rich cast of (dysfunctional) characters.

 

I don’t want to say any more other than to urge you to read it! THE FAMILY GAME is definitely going on this year’s favourite list of thrillers, and I have a massive book hangover right now. Very highly recommended to mystery lovers who enjoy dysfunctional family dynamics, secrets and twists galore. Allow plenty of time when you start this because you may find yourself hooked (my dog still hasn’t forgiven me for the 10km morning hikes with my earbuds in just to listen “a little bit longer”).

 

 

If you like the sound of this premise, then you may also enjoy these other books about sinister games people play: