From the Book Elf

Swimming to Lundy  by Amanda Prowse Swimming to Lundy by Amanda Prowse was published on 6th August 2024 by Lake Union Publishing. My thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis Tawrie Gunn has spent her whole life in the same breathtakingly beautiful but predictable seaside  to wn, with her beloved Nan and grief-stricken mum. All three women are still struggling with the tragic loss of Tawrie’s dad, who died at sea many years earlier. Now in her late 20s and d etermined to make a change, Tawrie challenges herself to confront the ocean and go wild swimming every morning from March until September , joining a group called the ‘ Peacock Swimmers ’ .  S uddenly , it seems as if Tawrie might be able to step out side of her comfort zone after all , and her life takes a new direction w hen a handsome stranger in a pink linen shirt arrives in Ilfracombe . However, even love at first sight rarely...

  Heart Be At Peace  by Donal Ryan Heart be at Peace was published on 8th August by Doubleday. My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a review copy and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis Some things can send a heart spinning; others will crack it in two. In a small town in rural Ireland, the local people have weathered the storms of economic collapse and are looking towards the future. The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the marks of its history, new stories are unfolding. But a fresh menace is creeping around the lakeshore and the lanes of the town, and the peace of the community is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. Young people are being drawn towards the promise of fast money whilst the generation above them tries to push back the tide of an enemy no one can touch… My Review I have to be honest this took me a while to get the gist of and I was torn betw...

Whispers of the Dead  by Lin Anderson  Whispers of the Dead by Lin Anderson was published on the 1st August by Pan Macmillan. 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. Synopsis In the dead of night, a man’s body is found strapped to a chair in Glasgow’s Elder Park, his identity unknown. As forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod examines the scene, the violence on display suggests a gangland feud could be the cause. At the post-mortem, a bullet engraved with a snake’s head is found in the man’s stomach, lending weight to the theory. Elsewhere in the city, a major Hollywood movie is being filmed. But shooting comes to a standstill when its lead actor is reported missing. As the news spreads, Police Scotland believe the two cases may be connected. DS Michael McNab thinks the key to finding those responsible could be the film itself. A storyline playing out in real-life on the streets o...

There are certain non fiction travel books that are really interesting and give an insight into attitudes and cultures in different countries and this is one of them. Teatime at Peggy’s  by Stephen McClarence and Clare Jenkins Teatime at Peggy's by Stephen McClarence and Clare Jenkins was published on 7th June 2024 by Bradt Travel Guides. My thanks to Clare for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis A warm, humorous and evocative celebration of the eccentric, time-warped and fast-disappearing Alice in Wonderland world of one of India’s most endangered communities: the 150,000-strong Anglo-Indians (mostly descendants of British men and Indian women). For 15 years, award-winning travel writer Stephen McClarence and his BBC Radio journalist wife Clare Jenkins regularly visited Jhansi, the railway town in Uttar Pradesh that inspired Bhowani Junction, John Masters' classic 1954 tale of Anglo-Indian life during Partit...

A Girls’ Guide to Winning the War  by Annie Lyons A Girls' Guide To Winning The War by Annie Lyons was published on 25th July by Headline 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. Synopsis 1940.Whip-smart librarian Peggy Sparks is determined to make sure that her brother Joe returns from the frontline to their London home, which they share with their beloved mother and grandmother. So when she is offered a once-in-a-lifetime job at the heart of the war effort, Peggy jumps at the prospect of making a real contribution to her country. But when she finds herself working under the fanciful socialite Lady Marigold Cecily, Peggy discovers that those around her are more keen on dancing at the Café de Paris than on ending the war. Writing accounts of her daily life is the only thing keeping Peggy ' s hopes alive. But when she finds her inner-most thoughts accidentally published b...

 Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain  by  Joachim B. Schmidt Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain by Joachim B. Schmidt was published on 18th July 2024 by Bitter Lemon Press and was translated by Jamie Lee Searle. My thanks to the author, translator and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis A NORDIC CRIME THRILLER WITH A DIFFERENCE. No gratuitous violence, no revenge porn, but a tightly plotted thriller that is chock full of humour. It is set in Washington DC and northern Iceland, both highly exotic locations. AN ENDEARING PROTAGONIST: Our mentally challenged hero, described with empathy and psychological tact, is faced with two murders and the threat of more to come.  Kalmann is back! But he’s already in trouble; in an interrogation room at the FBI headquarters in Washington, no less. All he wanted to do was visit his American father, but the loveable sheriff of Raufarhöfn got himself ...