Desecration (London Crime #1) by J.F. Penn.

 Follow Detective Sergeant Jamie Brooke as she helps solve a murder in London. This is not your average murder but one with a sinister background.

I have not read a book from Joanna for over 5 years now. What a delight it was for me to read another of her books. Once again Joanna mixes her extensive research with her extensive vocabulary to give the reader a very detailed and descriptive story. The plot behind Desecration is very good yet creepy as you wonder what can take place in research laboratories.

I found Desecration to be an excellent thriller, very gritty and quite gory in places. I really liked the emotional depth that was displayed when people have to deal with end-of-life choices and timescales. Joanna’s writing is so powerful that it brought a tear to my eye when I read that the time was right for one character. The words used really grasped the feelings in the same way as when a vet puts an animal down.

There are lighter parts to this story, like an exploration of various forms of body art and modification plus the joys of Tango dancing.

I think Desecration is an OUTSTANDING read that gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

Desecration was written in 2013 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Only the Innocent (DCI Tom Douglas #1) by Rachel Abbott.

Extremely wealthy Sir Hugo Fletcher is found murdered in his posh London home. Can DCI Tom Douglas catch the killer and bring them to justice in the first book in this series?

This is the first Rachel Abbott book that I have read and I thought I would give it a go as she is popular with many of my friends on Goodreads.

Only the Innocent is not a standard British police procedural novel. I did not like the format of this book. The reader knows far more about what is going on than any police officer working on the case. Most of the novel is centred around Laura Fletcher, the victim’s wife. Annoyingly she reveals selected parts of her back story through letters she wrote but never sent to her ex-sister-in-law, Imogen.

There are lots of nagging hints that things in Hugo’s life are simply not right. These doubts are drip-fed to the reader as this story rolls on. I found it irritating how the characters were extremely wealthy, throwing money everywhere without question and their snobbery was outstanding. They thought they were above everyone else and felt their wealth gave them the right to behave however they chose.

Slowly the many secrets surrounding Sir Hugo Fletcher were revealed with the reader always knowing more than the police. I found the plot okay with the surprises coming at the end.

I did not like any of the characters in this novel and found them all arrogant and pushy. Also the blatant eavesdropping annoyed me and the characters appeared so unfair.

Only the Innocent is an OKAY 3 star read with nothing to recommend about it to other readers. There were no golden nuggets to enjoy and the dialogue between characters lacked wit and humour. The best quote I can provide also illustrates the class of people involved and shows why I did not develop any empathy for Sir Hugo etc…

On one occasion, we were just passing a vaporetto stop as a boat pulled in. ‘Oh look, Hugo - can we just hop on this for half an hour, just to see where it takes us?’ ‘Laura, it’s a bus!’ he said. ‘Really, darling, I’m not in the habit of getting on buses, even if they do float and they are in the most beautiful city in the world. If you must take to the water, we’ll hire a launch and you can have a ride after lunch whilst I read the papers. How does that sound?’

Only the Innocent was written in 2011 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The Moscow Affair: A Nicole Graves Mystery book 6 by Nancy Boyarsky.

Nicole Graves, a Private Investigator based in Los Angeles is getting a little bored and fed up being stuck in her office while other staff are out in the field. Nicole is suddenly given the chance to get out of her office on an unusual assignment of simply observing and reporting on passengers aboard a luxury cruise ship in Moscow. Nicole is delighted to be offered this easy spotters job - a kind of busman’s holiday - a refreshing break playing the role of a tourist. What could possibly go wrong? Surely this is money for old rope?

I enjoyed reading this 6th novel in the Nicola Graves mysteries. Like the other books in this series, I feel this book can be read as a stand-alone. I liked how the dynamics of Nicole continued, it felt like catching up with an old friend. The author’s voice is consistent through her books and it is easy to believe that Nicole is actually Nancy, the author. There is a very easy flow to this book and although it is not written in the first person, it feels as though Nicole is sitting across the room for you, telling you about her exciting holiday cruise along the river Volga in Russia.

There is plenty of action in this story, it is not a sleepy river cruise but a tale of conspiracy and danger. By coincidence, whilst I was reading this book, I also watched a film called The Courier, - thinking that the role played by Olga Kurylenko - was similar to Nicole, a very strong, full action female with an army of talents to save the day.

I think the plot of The Moscow Affair was okay, nothing special - like the plot in her 4th novel, The Ransom. I found this book easy to roll along with, like watching a good television presenter. “And later in the programme I’ll be talking to....” making this a cosy armchair read. There is even a little romance towards the end with an old friend.

I do not think The Moscow Affair is as good as the other novels in this series like The Swap - book 1, The Bequest - book 2 or The Entitled - book 5 - but I found The Moscow Affair to be an OKAY read that gets 3 stars from me.

Thanks to the author for giving me an ARC on the understanding that I would publish a review.

The Moscow Affair was written in 2021 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Making Friends with Anxiety by Sarah Rayner.

This self help book informs the reader all about anxiety. I found this book a real eye-opener and I learned an awful lot about anxiety and the physiological response our bodies make. The understanding this book has given me enables me to deal with any anxiety I encounter and know the problems other people may suffer from.

Making Friends with Anxiety is an easy book to follow, read and understand. Sarah Rayner is a British author and her book is very, very down to earth. You don’t need to know anything about anxiety before starting this book. I found the text engaging, focused and extremely informative. I simply loved the psychology involved with how our minds work and how we deal with life.

Sarah explains that anxiety is a problem for everyone and her book can lessen the effects on you. However, anxiety is different for everyone and Sarah lists many of the symptoms. Sarah encourages readers to live in the moment, talks about mindfulness plus how and why household pets are happy and anxiety free. 

To give you the flavour of this wonderful book and the down to earth nature and quality of Sarah’s writing, below are some quotes to illustrate the focus and power of Making Friends with Anxiety...

“You can never be rid of anxiety completely as it’s a natural physiological response, but it’s impact can be reduced.”

“In other words, even relatively mild anxiety can make us alter our actions and restrict what we do.”

“We can influence our thoughts, and if we change the way we think, then our mood will lift and, eventually, anxiety will diminish too.”

“We can’t control much of what’s coming, and we certainly can’t change what’s been and gone. Put like this, it seems obvious that shifting our focus to the present will be good for our mental health.”

“let go of ruminating on the past and worrying about the future and focus on the here and now, anxiety lessens.”

...When I got to the end of this 132 page book, I understood fully why Sarah chose this title. Anxiety is a natural part of life and if you make friends with it, rather than fight anxiety, you will not struggle needlessly with a physiological response that we have all had since the stone age. I really enjoyed reading Making Friends with Anxiety, I found it very enlightening and I took a lot away from this book. I think it is a great book that explains what makes people tick and is an OUTSTANDING read that gets the top score of 5 stars from me. Sarah even mentions a value that I have held all my adult life...

“Alcohol should be a treat, not a treatment.”

This book was first written in 2014 but has been updated with a final chapter to cover the extra anxiety challenges that readers may face during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Making Friends with Anxiety was written first in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Flesh Worn Stone by John A. Burks Jr.

Steven Alexander has what he considers the perfect life. With a good job, a loving wife, and happy and healthy sons, he has little to complain about. But then Steven hears just 2 gun shots and his nightmare begins.

WOW! This book was well out of my usual genres. Suddenly the reader is thrust with no explanations into a living nightmare. The lead character Steven Alexander doesn’t have a clue either. Where the heck has he woken up? He is stuck in a cage, on a beach, with 4 strangers - who like him and his wife also appear to be kidnap victims.

Flesh Worn Stone is a violent horror story that gave me the creeps. It is very colourful and the action made me wince in horror. How can Steven possibly get away from this madness?

I really enjoyed reading Flesh Worn Stone, although it is very, very violent and gruesome in places. This book is total escapism that you can read from the safety of your Kindle. I loved how little bits of conversation and detail were sprinkled throughout this story that made me guess what was behind this nightmare. I thought the plot was very good and I loved how the local politics that Steven was thrown into were developed and explored.

All human life is here, with a good range of personalities, all with their good and bad bits. I found the writing to be crisp, engaging, entertaining and of high quality. There were no slow, boring bits or padding in this novel. The tension throughout this story was full blast, all the way to the end. I think this book is an OUTSTANDING read of escapism that gets the top score of 5 stars from me. Makes putting out the wheelie bins for refuse collection a rushed affair from now on!

Flesh Worn Stone was written in 2011 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The Stranger Next Door by Adam Southward.

Matthew, his wife Imogen and their daughter Ashley move from London to a house along New Church Road in Albury, a village near Guildford in Surrey. How will they adapt to village life compared to busy but anonymous life in London? How will they get along with their new neighbours? Follow this family as they deal with village life in this psychological thriller.

I liked the short chapters with their point of view from either Matthew, Imogen or their new neighbour Nancy. Sadly, these 3 main characters were not people you would want as a friend. Matthew was sneaky, Imogen is a nagging wife who is always spending money and Nancy simply gives me the creeps.

Sadly the warning flags in this psychological thriller are flown very early on. I guessed the plot very quickly and each hint confirmed my suspicions, one after the other.

I was pleased to read that I am not married to a woman like Imogen. Not only her rampant consumerism but the constant job allocation for Matthew to complete was wearing me down! Imogen even has the gall, in her own words “Or I could push, nag, dig until I revealed every little detail”.

Matthew for all his faults, does however offer to buy strangers a drink if he wants to talk to them. Simon turned down a beer in a near-by pub and had a soft drink but Chris not only had more than one coffee but had some cake too! That made me smile, the thought of a stranger buying me a beer “for a chat” - what do you want to know?

The Stranger Next Door rumbled along with no real surprises for me. I found it to be a comfortable, 3 star OKAY read that filled a hole, very much like eating toast before leaving for work in the morning. There is a lovely acknowledgement at the end when Adam, who wrote this novel during the Covid-19 lockdown, declares “And the final thank you is to you, the wonderful readers, tweeters, bloggers and reviewers, who take the time to remind everyone that the comfort of fiction is a constant, no matter what the world is doing.”

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Headline Accent for giving me an ARC on the understanding that I publish a review.

The Stranger Next Door is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2021.

The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons.

Follow Private Investigator Karen Andersen as she helps get to the bottom of things during these challenging times of the coronavirus pandemic. Although this is book 3 in the series, it can so easily be read as a stand-alone.

I loved the contemporary nature of this novel with all the conspiracies surrounding Covid-19. Louise has her finger on the pulse of Britain coping under the numerous lockdown restrictions. I loved how the many modern threats to life in the UK were explored plus the global risk of bio-terrorism. All your fears are listed along with a very long list of what-ifs. I loved the plot and how suspicions of the many characters were creepily developed.

There were no boring bits in this novel and I found it very engaging - the conspiracy element is so strong. I really enjoyed reading The Secret War and think it would make a great television drama. This novel raises a lot of questions when you consider the modern problem of fake news. Just who is telling the truth as we womble around wearing face masks?

The Secret War is a work of fiction but it does make you wonder about the source of Covid-19. I found this novel to be an OUTSTANDING 5 star read and I will never think about the Yamaha DX7 in the same way again.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher BooksGoSocial for providing me with an ARC on the understanding that I post a review.

The Secret War was written in 2021 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.