The Appeal by Janice Hallett

 

In a town full of secrets... Someone was murdered. Someone went to prison. And everyone's a suspect. Can you uncover the truth?

Dear Reader - enclosed are all the documents you need to solve a case. It starts with the arrival of two mysterious newcomers to the small town of Lockwood, and ends with a tragic death. Someone has already been convicted of this brutal murder and is currently in prison, but we suspect they are innocent. What's more, we believe far darker secrets have yet to be revealed.

Throughout the Fairway Players' staging of All My Sons and the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick's life-saving medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. Yet we believe they gave themselves away. In writing. The evidence is all here, between the lines, waiting to be discovered. Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth?

I wish I had jumped into this book sooner! It’s been on my shelves for a while and I just thought why not try it. Well by gosh was it good! I was addicted after reading the first few pages. The book is written so different to anything I’ve ever read before. It’s all documents, emails, and conversations, and you have to really read into them to figure out what’s going on and who done what. But its so cleverly done too, I had no idea what the ending was going to be at all, and no I did not figure it out! There are so many different ways you could go after evading the correspondence, but I guarantee you’ll have fun trotting to guess.

If you haven’t already read this one. I suggest you do. I went out the day after I finished it and bought Janice’s second book The Twyford Code! Massive 5 stars from me on this one.

BLOG TOUR! The Housemaid by Sarah Denzil

It seems like the perfect job. Great wages, accommodation provided, and all located within the walls of Highwood Hall, a stunning stately home owned by the Howard family. Not many little girls dream of becoming a maid, but this is an opportunity for me to get back on my feet. And for me to revisit my past...

But I soon realise I’ve made a mistake. The strict housekeeper, Mrs Huxley, watches my every move, emerging from the shadows when least expected. Lord Howard’s son, Alex, takes an interest in me, and as a former addict, I find myself drawn to him because I know he’s bad for me. There’s a general atmosphere of unease at Highwood Hall, from the narrow tunnels laced throughout the sprawling house, to the abandoned north wing, rumoured to be haunted. It’s easy to imagine the secrets hidden within these walls, like the secrets I hold close.

On my first day, I receive a mysterious package. I open up the pretty gift box to find a miniature doll version of me trapped inside a dollhouse. In this scene I’m dead, lying in a pool of red paint at the bottom of the perfectly recreated staircase. Someone sent this threatening diorama to me, but who even knows I work at the hall? And what do they want?

I know only one truth: my perfect job is turning into my perfect nightmare.

Thanks to Instabooktours for including me on the tour and my e-arc, and thank to Sarah Denzil for my gorgeous signed book. I was really up for reading and reviewing this book when I found out there was to be a tour. 

This book is brilliant. It’s totally not what I expected. I’m not sure how much I’m going to be able to say without giving anything away!! So we start seeing the housemaid on her way to Highwood Hall for an interview. Mrs Huxley the housekeeper, immediately seems to take a dislike to her, but she has no idea why. 

Mrs Huxley reminded me of the housekeeper from Downton Abbey, Mrs Hughes, so I couldn’t get her voice out of my head while reading it! But she was a great character I thought, very grumpy, stern and proper, but I loved it! I loved the secrets and hush-hush stuff that was obviously known by certain people, and I was guessing left right and centre as to what was going on. By the end I realised I hadn’t a clue and was left reeling with the shock of it all!

The housemaid lets us know little things about her life, we read pieces of letters from her mother to her father, and learn things about her past and why she wants to be at Highwood Hall so bad. I liked her, I liked her character and her voice. Alex, I wasn’t sure what to think. He seemed very domineering, a man with a Christian Grey demeanour, ‘do what I say or else’ kind of thing.

It’s a great read, I devoured most of it in one day. I would definitely recommend this if you like thriller/mysteries with a little difference.

Thanks again to Instabooktours and Sarah Denzil.

The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham

When Brighton tattoo artist Marni Mullins discovers a flayed body, newly-promoted DI Francis Sullivan needs her help. There's a serial killer at large, slicing tattoos from his victims' bodies while they're still alive. Marni knows the tattooing world like the back of her hand, but has her own reasons to distrust the police. So when she identifies the killer's next target, will she tell Sullivan or go after the Tattoo Thief alone?

This was Tsundoku Squad’s June book, so our 6th read together. 

This was a fast paced, easy to read book. Marni seemed pretty bad ass if I’m honest, I liked her character and enjoyed the tattooing aspect of it, I’m a big fan of tattoos. It was a bit predictable at times though, and I think a few of us guessed certain things at one point or another. Sullivan seems a bit arrogant I though but I warmed up to him a bit throughout.

But it was also a bit gory. There are parts where the Killer speaks, and those are the parts I enjoyed the most. It gave the book an edge I thought, and I honestly thought I’d have given it less stars if those bits hadn’t been there. 

A good read, easy to read (I read each weeks part while I was on the exercise bike!), and I’ll more than likely read book 2 and see if the story carries on.

I gave the book 3 and half stars but rounded up to 4 on Goodreads (as they still don’t do half stars grrr). 

Check out Em’s collective round up and review here: REVIEW