From the Book Elf

  Oaklore  by Jules Acton Oaklore by Jules Acton was published on 3rd September 2024 by Greystone Books.  My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to  Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Jules lives and breathes trees. She works for the Woodland Trust and her love of the oak is central to Oaklore but she takes a holistic approach. Oaks in the UK support 2300 other plants, animals and fungi and the book encompasses the birds, spiders, beetles and butterflies to be found on them. She is effusive, stimulating all of the senses. Eyes popping with enthusiasm, ears attuned to every sound and fingers sensitive to the many textures to be found in the woods. She encourages walkers to switch off their air pods and concentrate instead on the sounds of nature. Oaklore is peppered with British cultural references from Bagpuss and Professor Yaffle to goths and Winnie the Pooh. Her sense of fun extends to the simil...

 Flowers from the Black Sea by A.B. Decker Flowers from the Black Sea by A.B. Decker was published on 28th March 2024 by  The Book Guild Ltd.  My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour. Tasked by Ben, an old friend, to locate a man in Turkey, private investigator Matt Quillan soon finds himself out of his depth when he has a flash drive thrust on him by a stranger who is arrested by armed officers shortly afterwards. When Ben reveals that his mission is to avenge the murder of his sister, the conjunction of this assignment along with the flash drive burning a hole in Matt’s pocket puts them both – along with holidaymaker Amber – in mortal danger. As the case lands Matt in the crosshairs of a local mobster, it is not only Ben’s search for vengeance which is left hanging in the balance. My Review I was drawn into the story line straight away from the minute Rekan , a complete stranger, ...

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders  by Alexandra Benedict  The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict   was published on 24th October 2024 by Simon & Schuster.  My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me copy to review and to  Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. On 1st of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner and Christmas sceptic Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene – blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.’ It’s signed, Rest In Pieces. Edie contacts her nephew, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, and together they work to solve the clues. But when a man is found near death with...

  Too Many Times  by M.K.Turner Too Many Times by M.K. Turner was published on 15th October 2024.  My thanks to Marcia for sending me a copy to review and to  Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis Respected and successful barrister Bernadette Wiseman is dead, hanged in the hall of her home. With no sign of foul play and no note, the question raised is why? The police believe it was suicide, but Bernie’s partner, Annie, won’t accept that and instructs JJ Jenson to investigate. As JJ and his sidekick, Davie, dig around in Bernie’s apparently perfect life, they discover professional jealousies, sinister threats and dangerous enemies, but can they establish what actually happened? And more importantly, to honour Bernie’s own dedication to justice, can they prove it? When JJ begins to question whether Bernie’s life was as perfect as she liked people to believe, he sets off a dangerous chain of events, putting his own life in danger. But who is he up ...

 Christmas at Polkerran Point  by Cass Grafton Christmas at Polkerran Point by Cass Grafton was published in August 2024 by Canelo. My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis F ate may have brought them together, but secrets seem destined to keep them apart... An accident and a lost passport mean  Gemma's  six-month sabbatical to go travelling is not off to a strong start. She heads to Polkerran Point to stay at her aunt’s while her new passport is processed and to find temporary work in the meantime. Enter musician  Matt . Newly moved into a secluded, renovated mill – complete with a recording studio – Matt is preparing for his band’s big reunion tour. Focused on writing new music for the album, he needs a live-in housekeeper. Even as sparks fly, Gemma can sense Matt's keeping secrets and with her role ending once Christmas is ove...

Blood Matters by Ian McFadyen My thanks to Ian for sending me copy to review and to  Rachel for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis When the body of Doug Pritchard, an aging music journalist with a history of sensational scoops, is found face down in a dark roadside ditch, DCI Carmichael and his team embark on an investigation that takes them in several directions. What did Pritchard uncover? Did that secret bring about his violent demise? And do the tragic deaths of two local pop idols, twenty years before, have any relevance to his murder?   As DCI Carmichael delves deeper into the case it becomes clear that, despite the outwardly close connections of the residents of the small hamlet of High Maudsey, neither long term friendships nor family ties should be taken at face value. This the tenth in his series of well-honed detective novels by Ian McFadyen featuring DCI Carmichael, leads the detective and his team through as many twists and turns as the quiet country lane where D...