Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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From the very first page right to the final words of this book, I was totally absorbed, hooked by the story of Elizabeth Zott, Madeleine, Calvin Evans and Six-Thirty the dog. It’s a book I already know that I will go back and re-read and which will become a favourite go-to on my shelves at home.

Elizabeth Zott is a scientist who becomes famous as the star of TV cookery show Supper At Six, who doesn’t fit the Sixties norm, who rebels against the misogyny and prejudice of those around her, and whose uncompromising, unconventional (for the time) views really rang true for me. That last sentence sounds as though it’s a hectoring feminist tome but it absolutely isn’t, it’s warm and funny and sweeps you along on her journey. Every single one of the characters came to life on the page and Elizabeth’s determination, focus and drive touched my heart. I have rarely felt so bereft when finishing a book, I didn’t want the story to end.

I honestly don’t want to spoil your reading experience by revealing very much more except to say that this book is so beautifully written, with such heart and humour, that I am in absolute awe of Bonnie Garmus as a writer. Lessons in Chemistry deserves to be a huge, huge success. 

Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg

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Handsome college professor Steven Harding and naïve young student Ellie Masterson drive from New York to a remote cabin for their first holiday together. Expectations are high for a romantic weekend, but what unfolds over those few days will totally blow your mind. Neither of them are who they say they are, and the dark truths underlying their twisted relationship are gradually exposed. 

I literally could not put this book down, and found myself holding my breath at certain moments.  Ellie and Steven were both compelling characters and one of the things I loved most about Nobody But Us was the way in which I got to understand how they had come to this dark place and what motivated their actions. It was such a compelling read.  And the atmosphere and sense of danger was ratcheted up by the setting – an ostensibly beautiful cabin in the remote wilderness, surrounded by trees, in the deepest of snowy winters – it totally heightened the almost-cinematic sense of jeopardy throughout. 

Timely, thought-provoking, deeply atmospheric, full of suspense – this has got to be one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read for a very long time indeed. 

A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle

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I love a locked room thriller, and the premise of this book, set on The Endeavour, an ocean-going liner sailing from Southampton to New York in the 1920s absolutely appealed to me. When an elderly gentleman is found dead at the bottom of the stairs leading from one deck to another, there’s pressure on ship’s officer Timothy Birch (an man with a Past) to declare it nothing more than a tragic accident.

Of course, it’s nothing of the kind and the irascible and frankly quite irritating Scotland Yard detective James Temple, who happens to be on board, insists on investigating further. The unwilling partnership forced upon Birch and Temple by the ship’s Captain makes for an entertaining read, interspersed with the mystery of a missing painting and further deadly events which unfold as the ship nears its destination.

Beautiful period detail, highly evocative descriptions of life on board and the intriguing relationship between our two sleuths kept me reading right to the end. 

This Charming Man by C.K. McDonnell

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This is the second book in The Stranger Times series and the moment I had read this one (courtesy of #netgalley, thank you very much), I had to go and buy the first one, so that’s a rare accolade.

The Stranger Times is a Manchester-based newspaper which reports on paranormal, strange and otherwise peculiar goings on around the world, edited by the intermittently malevolent Vincent Banecroft, a stupendously vile person with few saving graces who reminded me of nobody so much as Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron’s equally brilliant but entirely different Slough House series.

In this book, vampires (which everyone knows don’t exist) start popping up, there are plumbing / kidnap complications and a running gag based on a swear-by-numbers board that I’m severely tempted to adopt just for the fun of it.  It’s clever, funny, unexpected and keeps you turning the pages. And, like I say, I enjoyed it so much I had to read the first book in the series and can’t wait for the next one to appear. Brilliant.

The Woman in the Middle by Milly Johnson

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Isn’t one of the joys of reading that there is always a perfect book for how you’re feeling at any given time? Milly Johnson is an author whose books never fail to cheer when I am feeling low, because she writes about women whose lives aren’t perfect but who find a way to cope with whatever life throws at them.

The Woman in the Middle perfectly reflects what it’s like to be the glue in a family – the woman who looks after elderly parents, worries about their children, and keeps on trying to be the wife she thinks her husband wants. Somewhere underneath all that is the real Shay Bastable (our heroine), soldiering on, until a series of events, triggered by the arrival of a big orange skip on the estate where her mother lives, brings the whole edifice tumbling down around her ears.

Long-hidden secrets emerge, old friendships are renewed while others are re-assessed, and through it all, Shay’s warmth and humanity remain in place while she copes with everything that’s thrown at her. She’s just so real, someone I’d love to be friends with, and that’s the joy of this book – and all of Milly’s books – is that she really understands what makes women tick. Warm, witty and wise, this was a delight to read, thoroughly recommended for a day when you need to be reminded that love, in all its forms, wins. 

A Perfect Cornish Escape, by Phillipa Ashley

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I love Cornwall, don’t you? It’s so full of contrasts, wild rugged coastline, beautiful beaches with azure-blue seas which turn stormy grey in an instant when the rain lashes down. Stuck here at home, it’s one of the places I yearn for, and Philippa Ashley does such a fantastic job of conjuring it up for me, I could almost be there.  And at a time when reading is about the only way to escape real life, this couldn’t be a better book to take you away from it all.

This is a lovely, lilting story about a woman who has lived through loss and rebuilt her life, about the importance of female friendship, and the serendipity of new beginnings. Marina’s husband drowned seven years ago and the village of Porthmello has surrounded her with love ever since. Her friend Tiff Trescott (and if you ever listen to BBC Radio Cornwall, that name will ring a distant bell…) tips up fleeing the double-whammy of heartbreak and job loss, and together Marina and Tiff make their way through the summer months. This is a book full of laughter and sadness, about women finding new ways to live and love, but it’s also a love-letter to beautiful Cornwall.

Reading this book is like that shaft of sunshine cutting through the clouds on a miserable day, it puts a smile on your face and gives you a bit of hope for the future. Just what’s needed at the moment.

Every Little Secret, by Ruby Speechley

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If you’re looking for something that will take you right out of lockdown life, then look no further. This twisty-turny thriller is full of suspense, and the writer ratchets up the tension with almost every page. In fact I’d say it’s almost the definition of a page turner. I was totally absorbed in the story to the point where I was reading this book while cooking supper, much to my husband’s surprise! It’s about – well, that’s the thing. You think it’s one story but then you find out it’s something much, much darker…

Every Little Secret starts off focused on grieving mother, Maddy, who is struggling to cope with the death of her daughter Chloe – only to be hit with a second blow when the police tell her that her husband Max is missing, presumed drowned. As she tries to hold it together for the sake of her other child, she becomes consumed by the desire to find out what really happened to Max. Maddy’s sleuthing leads her into some dark places, and the twists and turns of the plot become almost – but not quite – unbelievable.

It’s hard to write a review of this book without giving the game away, but one of the things I particularly enjoyed about it was the way that the author got into the heads of the key protagonists, telling their parallel stories, so that from a psychological point of view, you really understood why they acted in particular ways at different times. The characters were so well drawn, and I liked the fact that the end wasn’t obvious, reflecting the messiness of human relationships. I’d definitely read another novel by this author, and found it a great escape at these difficult times.

To Kill A Man, by Sam Bourne

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This is another in a series of thrillers featuring Maggie Costello, a fast-paced read which really gets under the skin of its protagonist.  Still set in the world of Washington politics, the book opens with the vividly-realised death of an intruder, killed by aspiring politician Natasha Winthrop during a break-in to her house. Nothing is quite what it seems though, and as the story unfolds, the reader is left guessing about Natasha’s motives. Maggie Costello becomes enmeshed in Natasha’s life as she tries to defend her against conspiracy theories and the machinations of her political rivals. 

Like the others in this series, To Kill A Man is rooted in current political issues, in this case focused on the #MeToo movement, highlighting the reality of the abuse many women face in the workplace alongside a well-drawn plot with a big twist at the end. At times I found this quite a challenging read, asking myself was it appropriate for a man to be writing so powerfully about sexual harassment, rape and assault, but I was glad to see a range of acknowledgements from the author at the end, reflecting his meticulous research and clearly stating that episodes of sexual harassment and assault, whilst fictionalised, were based on victims accounts.  Highly recommended.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

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This novel was published yesterday, and I had high hopes, because I had loved Lucy Foley’s first book, The Hunting Party. If anything, The Guest List is even better. Set on a remote island over the course of a rather upmarket wedding party, The Guest List is a Poirot-like country house mystery where everyone’s a suspect and the real culprit is unexpectedly unmasked right at the very end.

What’s so clever about this is the way the author unravels the backstory for each of the main players so gently throughout the course of the book. You’re kept guessing with every turn of the page, anticipating some twists but definitely not others. I was absolutely riveted the whole way through, and – like The Hunting Party – the setting itself, the wild weather and astonishing scenery, becomes another of the characters alongside the different protagonists.

I could hardly believe it when I reached the end of the book, I wanted to go on reading it and follow the characters on beyond what happened on the Island.It’s dark, twisty, hugely suspenseful and the very definition of a modern murder mystery. Totally loved it and don’t want to say more about the plot because I don’t want to spoil it! Enjoy…

Can’t wait to see what she writes next.

The Lying Room by Nicci French

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I’ve long been a fan of Nicci French’s Frieda Klein series, one I go back to again and again, so I was really excited to read this stand-alone novel. I’m happy to report it absolutely did not disappoint. The heroine, Neve, is fascinatingly flawed and there were times when I wanted to shake her, but that’s a good thing, right? Means you’re totally ‘in’ the book, and that the characters and situation are both compelling and believable.

I won’t spoil the plot, with all its myriad twists and turns, but it begins when Neve, everyone’s best friend, discovers the body of a man she’s been seeing and decides to remove every trace that she’s ever been in his flat. Except that, this being a thriller, she’ll miss something crucial, which will come back and bite her at some inopportune moment. Well, she does, and it does, except that it’s early on and becomes a classic piece of misdirection. This book is like a masterclass on how to write a suspenseful thriller, because by the end of it you’ve changed your mind ten times about who the murderer really is and you’re still surprised how it turns out.

What Nicci French does so well is ratcheting up the tension with each new secret that’s revealed. There’s an incredible feeling of claustrophobia that grows throughout the novel until you can hardly breathe for wondering when the next blow will fall and whether Neve will survive it. I almost missed my stop on the tube at one point. And it makes a fantastic distraction from all the bilge that’s going on in the news at the moment. Definitely worth a read.