Miss Benson’s Beetle

Author: Rachel Joyce

Publisher: Doubleday

Available in Hardback/eBook and audiobook

Publication date: 23rd July 2020

Thank you to Alison Barrow and Doubleday for my beautiful gifted copy. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

It is 1950 , two unlikely women set off on a hare-brained adventure to the other side of the world to try and find a beetle, and in doing so discover friendship and now to be their best of themselves. This is quintessential Joyce: at once poignant and playful with a huge heart and same resonance, truth and lightness of touch as her phenomenally successful debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

This is a novel that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found, it is an intoxicating adventure story but it is also about what it means to be a woman and a tender exploration of a friendship that defies all boundaries.

My Thoughts

I finished this book in a day, it is a glorious read and echoes of the story remain with you long after you have turned the last page. On finishing it, I sat in an awed silence for about 30 minutes letting the story resonate in my head and now a day or so later, the characters and story are still with me. Rachel Joyce is superlative story teller. This is my first experience of reading one of her books and it won’t be the last (I couldn’t resist, I just bought two of them while writing this review).

This tale is a voyage of discovery, the discovery of truth, the discovery of self, the discovery of friendship, the discovery that any mountain can be conquered, quite literally as it turns out. Two women whose entire lives have been overshadowed and marginalised within the established patriarchy of the time (although their experiences are equally valid today).

The book begins in 1915 with a traumatic life altering moment in Margery Benson’s childhood and the consequences of this tragic moment thrust her onto a path of gentile middle class misery brightened only by her passion for entomology. When we catch up with Margery, she is a middle aged, disillusioned and downtrodden, a teacher uninspired by her task and one act of childish spite has unexpected consequences. Margery rebels and literally runs away from her suffocating job and embarks on her life’s dream. Starting with an advert in a newspaper for an assistant…Margery Benson is swapping the urban jungle for the unknown, unexplored jungle of New Caledonia in search of an undiscovered golden flower beetle.

Margery interviews her prospective assistants and picks the most suitable candidate and plans for the 10,000 mile adventure are made, which seems to involve lacrosse boots, a pith helmet, ethanol and a great deal of Spam. It is full steam ahead until at last minute when the suitable candidate declines to accompany Margery (due to her disapproval of Margery’s involvement with a stolen pair of lacrosse boots) and Margery having no other recourse invites the only available assistance left to join her odyssey. Enter Enid Pretty on the morning of the expedition, in a pink suit, a face full of makeup, pom pom sandals with a red valise and a plucky attitude. As you can imagine, Margery is unimpressed by her new companion and that is putting it mildly!

Margery and Enid could not be more different from each other, physically, intellectually, emotionally and now they are squashed together in a tiny compartment on a boat for 6 weeks on the first leg of their escapade! Margery within the first 12 hours of meeting Enid, ponders the idea of ‘killing her quickly’!!! And yes Enid is utterly irritating but yet, eminently practical, unorthodox in her resourcefulness and kind, she is the perfect foil and compliments, the studious, organised, determined and hapless awkward Margery.

As the story unfolds, their unlikely alliance develops and they learn to work together and begin to see and appreciate each other’s strengths and encourage each other’s missions and despite numerous obstacles they finally reach the wilds of the North of New Caledonia (where men fear to go!)…

Well what happens next, I hear you ask….a great deal and the following titbits are just a taste…missing luggage, unsavoury characters who try to derail Margery/Enid, a possible dark love triangle, beetle hunting in an untamed jungle, unsuitable shoes, a little white dog, a stalker, more spam, a great deal of trouble with hammocks, unexpected revelations, tropical storms and yet more spam with banana (yes really) and our protagonists face it all with hilarity, mild hysteria, friendship, fortitude and courage.

I encourage you to embark on this tale of two remarkable women, who like the beetles they are hunting are beautiful and varied in their characters yet societal expectation has had them pinned/entombed unable to fly free, until now. This book is their flight to freedom, their journey of survival, redemption, awakening, loyalty and friendship and copious pages full of gumption! But how does this tale end, well that is for me to know and for you to find out…I know I’m a huge book tease but it would be remiss of me to spoil this reading experience for you as it is an exceptional one.

About the Author

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international best sellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop and a collection of interlinked short stories. A Snow Garden & other stories. Her books have been translated into thirty-six languages and tow are in development for film.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers national Book Awards ‘New Writer of the Year’ in December 2012 and shortlisted for the ‘UK Author of the Year’ 2014. Rachel was a Costa prize judge and University Big Read author in 2019.

She has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptions of the classics for the BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl. She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.

Never Forget

Author: Michel Bussi

Publisher: Weidenfield & Nicolson

Available: In Hardback on 9th July, eBook and audiobook

Thank you to Alex Layt for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Description:

Before

A Man running along a remote cliff top path on an icy-cold February morning.

A woman standing on the cliff’s edge

A red scarf on the ground between them.

After

The man is along on the cliff – adrenaline pumping through his veins.

The woman is on the beach below – dead

The red scarf is on the beach – beautifully (and impossibly) wrapped around the woman’s broken neck

What Happened?

Two lives colliding by chance

Or a revenge decades in the making

My Thoughts:

Never Forget is a book I will certainly never forget, nor would I wish to. It is an exceptional read and there are not enough superlative adjectives in my vocabulary to sing its praises highly enough.

Whatever other wonderful books you have on your TBL (to buy list). This one needs to be at the top, no fan of crime novels should be without it.

The book opens with a formal letter documenting the discovery of 3 skeletons after a costal landslide, the bodies are unidentifiable with no clothing, possessions or forms of ID found with them. The author of the letter is requesting urgent assistance in identifying the bodies.

Our main protagonist is Jamal Salaoui, Arab, Muslim, amputated left leg, runner, works in at therapy centre/mental asylum.

We first meet Jamal he is on his morning run along a costal path, when he spots a red scarf caught on a fence post, he retrieves it and continues on his way until he comes across a girl on the cliff edge wearing a torn evening dress, make up smeared across her face, obviously distressed. Jamal tries to engage with her and encourage her away from the edge, he goes as far as to get her to hold the end of the scarf but then she jumps…

Two witnesses on the beach see her fall/land, they all end up by her body on the beach and the police are called. A preliminary assessment is made, the girl was raped (no underwear and bruising) torn dress, facts apparent,  she was strangled, her skins is covered in salt (sea water) but her clothes are dry!

And the red scarf has ended up wound around her neck as if she had draped it there…how is this possible?

Jamal continues on his run, trying to absorb what he has witnessed. On arrival back at his hotel/B&B and he is receives a package containing press cuttings and information referring to the death/suicide/murder of 19 year old woman, except this woman died 10 years ago. The details of her death were eerily similar, she was attacked in the same way and was strangled with a red Burberry cashmere scarf, could there be a link between the two deaths?

Two similar girls, who died in near identical circumstances and why is someone sending information to Jamal, are they warning him or threatening him? The plot thickens as they say, a dawning realisation hits him while in the police station to provide his witness statement. The police do not believe he is an innocent bystander to this current event! Jamal is more than a little uneasy. His sparks of concern are pushed aside when he meets, Mona Salinas who is also at the police station. She waiting to get some paperwork rubber stamped so she can collect pebbles (relates to Silica) she is Post-doctoral fellow in experimental Chemistry and pebbles on this French coastline are the best quality in the world! Jamal and Mona, flirt and it seems they have chemistry too!

Further mysterious packages keep arriving for Jamal,  providing details and documents relating to the deaths of the two girls, only now it seems there is also third murdered girl, all the clues seem to suggest a serial killer! During his second interview with the police, the tide turns and not in his favour. He is in the frame, his DNA/finger prints are on the dead girl! How is this possible? Jamal reacts violently to the accusation and flees! I confess I considered the possibility that maybe, just maybe Jamal was not the innocent bystander he seems…

And it is at this stage of the book, its true genius starts to be revealed, the drama, the tension is building,  nothing and nobody are what they seem! Jamal is about to fall head first down the proverbial rabbit hole!

Are you intrigued, I hope so! Nothing I had read up to this point could prepare me for what happens next, what unfolds, or the concept of ‘The prisoner’s dilemma’ nor the lengths some people will go to in order to exact revenge! How I would love to provide you with more juicy details but to do so would ruin the delicious vortex of deviant deception you are about to experience and climatic events that bring this stunning book to its end but then this review would be submerged in spoiler alerts!

What I will reveal is that the cadence and tempo of this book combined with its magnificent plot twists are simply stratospheric. This is a bit of an odd comparison but the construction of this tale for me, is reminiscent of the mesmerising lyricism of Thomas Hardy’s environmental descriptions but they are married to the darkly vivid, heart stopping and enthralling compulsion of Stieg Larson’s Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series.

This book is a tour de force of psychological crime fiction and you absolutely need to read it…immediately. Literally run to the nearest bookshop and buy a copy and then please, please tell me what you think because I am dying to discuss the finer nuances of this story with you all! I am now off to see if I can find more of Mr Bussi’s books because my reading life will not be complete without them!

About the Author

Michel Bussi is the author of many bestselling novels, including After the Crash, Black Water Lilies, Don’t Let Go and Time is a Killer.

He is one of the most successful French authors of all time, with millions of copies sold internationally and over a quarter of a million copies in the UK alone.

NEON

Author: GS Locke

Publisher: Orion Fiction

Available now: Paperback, eBook and audio

Thank you to Kate Morton and Orion Fiction for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Description:

Killing Eve meets Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman in this character-led crime thriller, in which a suicidal detective and a desperate hit woman hunt a Neon-obsessed serial killer

A detective desperate for revenge. A Hit woman with one last job. A killer both on his list.

What follows is a thrilling game of cat & mouse between detective, assassin and serial killer. But when Jackson discovers it’s not a coincidence that their paths have crossed, he begins to question who the real target has been all along…

My Thoughts

Neon is as vivid and electric a book as its title implies, as soon as I saw the blurb for this book, I knew it would be right up my alley. I devour crime novels and this book is certainly entitled to a place in my library.

GS Locke, writes in direct, pithy and pacey manner and which makes for compelling reading, especially when coupled with a great plot and protagonists who are flawed, relentless and engaging and a killer who you really want them to catch!

DCI Matt Jackson the lead detective on the trail of the Neon serial killer, until that killer murder’s his wife Polly and life as he knows it unravels. Initially he is considered the primary suspect in his wife’s death and his clash with superiors, leading to him being suspended. Despite being cut off from the formal routes to catch a killer. He takes matters into his own hands, in order to stem the wave of grief and despair at the loss of his beloved wife.

Suicidal, enraged and exhausted, he arranges his own death. Enter the enigma that is Iris Palmer – hit woman, whose job it is to kill DCI Matt Jackson. Iris has issues of her own but the full extent of them remains elusive for most of the book, she is lone wolf, a professional killer, always prepared and works for the big hitters of the midlands crime underworld and yet only a big payday can help her now and why she needs the money, won’t be what you expect!

Their individual obsessions and desperation, leads to an awkward alliance between police man and a hit woman, who strike a deal and refocus their attentions on identifying and seeking vengeance on Neon, rather than submitting him to the traditional civic justice. Neon is serial killer with a penchant for turning his victims into focal points in neon illuminated works of art, always publically displayed for maximum horrifying impact. His kills are leading the police in a merry macabre dance. By telling the story from the perspectives of Jackson/Palmer and Neon as a reader are given insight into who the killer is, what motivates him and what his end game might be where as Jackson and Palmer can only follow his twisted trail and their assumptions could lead them astray, nothing is straight forward.

It is a pleasure for me, when reading a crime novel such as this one, to see the unexpected occur but never be left with elements of the story unexplained. This plot is detailed and well-crafted and there are subtle but tasty clues for a reader to follow. Locke provides a discerning and fascinating look at the world of neon art, which certainly gives this killer a unique approach to murder, and rounds out the villain as devious narcissist and a master of control and misdirection.

The first half of the book, very much establishes the  environment and back ground of each of the main protagonists and establishes links to the peripheral characters, which in turn neatly sets up the second half of the book, for the hunt. But who is hunting who and who will get caught in this web of revenge and deception, who will survive the illuminating show down!  I have no intention of revealing those secrets here, so you will have to read the book and find out for yourselves. There are some nifty little twists in this tale and it certainly didn’t end where I assumed it would, which made me nod and smile in appreciation. Reading this book was an excellent way to spend an afternoon, I think you might agree.

About the Author

GS Locke is a British crime writer whose routes lie in the Black country and an amateur classical pianist.

Broken Flowers

Author: Kate McQuaile

Publisher: Quercus Books

Out now: in Paperback and eBook

Thank you to Katya Ellis and Quercus Books for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Description:

Your Mother. The one person you trust. What if you are wrong?

Widowed Nan is on her way to her beloved son’s wedding. She should be excited but she is dreading her return to Paradise Place – a tiny part of Notting Hill that she hasn’t dared set foot in for decades. Nan had arrived there as young girl in the late seventies, desperate for freedom and a career as an artist. But, drawn into a dark obsession that spun out of control, Nan was forced to flee.

And while the only thing seemly connecting her son’s wedding and her old secret life is Paradise Place. Nan quickly gets the impression that someone is watching her every move…someone she thought was dead.

My Thoughts

This book opens in dramatic fashion with a murder…a man violently bludgeoned…which as a reader leaves you both startled and intrigued, that could of course just be my reaction. The narrator’s voice isn’t malicious or vengeful more resigned and scared. Immediately, I though, well now what, as now I have a fairly good idea of ‘who done it’…so to speak…at least I thought I did…

This tale is one of obsession, secrets, lies and skewed perception and when these elements collide…BOOM! When I started reading this story, I was not convinced I would LOVE this book. I am annoyingly perceptive when it comes to figuring out plots within crime novels and I was convinced that I knew exactly where this story was going to go and casually assumed it was going to be an enjoyable but mildly predictable read.

Ha…I was totally and utterly wrong! I can’t impress on you enough fellow bookophiles, to stop what you are doing and go and get this book. You need to read this book, it is a complete firework…the sublime tension, the intriguing characters, the glorious plot, light the fuse and wait for the show. I am sitting here desperately trying to figure out how not to give anything away…it is psychological crime novel genius!

The story is told via two timelines, of Now and Then, with now being current and the Then being 40 years ago, late 1970s Notting hill, London.

We meet our main protagonist Nan in the first instance in the Now…she is grieving, careworn, burdened and fearful. She is travelling to London to attend her estranged son’s wedding, quite uncertain as to why she has been invited to attend the nuptials as she has not spoken to her son for over 2 years. Ever since the death of his father and a subsequent argument between them on the day of his funeral, the details of what transpired are unclear.

This journey is in complete contrast her first visit to London 40 years previously and her trepidation is only compounded when on her first night back, she invited to meet her son’s finance and her parents for dinner. Nan is returned to Paradise Place…the scene she fled from and never wanted to return to, at any cost, including her relationship with her son.

We then meet the, ‘THEN’  Nan who at 18 was craving change and excitement, young, naïve, talented. She came from a small town in the north of England, to study a foundation year at Art College. This dream is not approved of by her parents, who are  religious, northern, hard working folk with traditional expectations and little comprehension of why their daughter doesn’t want to be a secretary earn some money, get married and settle down. The very idea of this life is stultifying to Nan, fortunately her Art teacher steps in and offers to pay for Nan’s foundation year and with some persuasion her parents reluctantly agree and Nan’s London adventure starts with her father dropping her at a Catholic boarding house for women!

Nan at 18, is bambiesque and after a few weeks in her new London life, she becomes a little more worldly wise and the change and excitement she hopes for is a bit more jaded until one evening she meets Eddie Martin, a barman in The Rising Sun, her local pub.  They flirt and the seedlings of a possible new romance are sown. This interaction also draws her further away from her boyfriend from back home, the reliable and steadfast Chris, who she has been with since they were 15 and who Nan believes she is ready to leave behind but she won’t quite let him go. Yet in the Now, Chris is the husband she has lost in a tragic accident!

Got you hooked now, haven’t I and I can’t possibly say anymore on this subject.

This tale revolves around Paradise Place and the entire cast of characters has a connection to the house, which is the home of Hugo Bennett, who young Nan views as handsome, wealthy, cultured and educated. He completely different from the other men in her life, she is instantly infatuated with him. I read him in a very different way, to me, he is predatory, manipulative and lazily arrogant. He reminds me of the big bad wolf in the red riding hood fairy tale! What you see, is not what you get!

Eddie (the barman) who is overly keen on Nan, already knows Hugo and rents a room from him. Eddie introduces Nan to Hugo as a prospective tenant and with the desperate hope if Nan is close at hand, she must fall for his charms. In order to escape the confines of the Catholic boarding house will all its rules, Nan jumps at the chance to escape this environment and having met Hugo, wants to be closer to him, despite his blasé reticence towards her…well on the face of it anyhow!!! Remember what I said about skewed perspectives and we all know that there are always two sides to every story, a cliché though this might be…remember it!

Nan’s return to London despite the passing of time,  is fraught, her secret past all-consuming and now small subtly sinister things start to happen, her son’s mysterious benefactor has a portrait of her on his wall, red roses are sent to her hotel, silent phone calls…Yet still Nan cannot find it within herself to confide in her son and it is this failure that continues to alienate them! Nan’s refusal to elucidate, is just so gloriously frustrating, you almost want to shout at Nan yourself…

Throughout this book, my understanding of the truth was constantly blurred, as a reader the clues and suggestions lead you in a certain direction and just when you are comfortable with what you think you know about the characters, this perceived truth is completely changed.

Each character in this story has their own understanding of a version of the events that happened in the past and these assumptions colour the actions and reactions of the characters in the present. The supporting cast are sucked into the main protagonists’ vortex of obsession, secrets and lies. Now you may think I being pretty vague about how the plot develops and how the truth is revealed, and how this book catapult’s to its magnificent conclusion. This is entirely deliberate on my part  because I want you to have the same jaw dropping experience I did!

I consumed this book in 3 hours flat on Monday and I have been thinking about it ever since and there is only one other book that has left me feeling like this and that is BA Paris’ extraordinary novel – Behind Closed Doors…I say no more but I cannot stress how much I want you to read this book…I LOVED it

About the Author

Kate McQuaile’s debut novel, What She Never Told Me, was published by Quercus in March 2016. Her second novel, Without A Word, was released in October 2017. Broken Flowers was published, also by Quercus, in April 2020.

Born in Drogheda on Ireland’s east coast, the setting for much of What She Never Told Me, Kate lives in London, where she worked as a journalist for many years. She has received several international journalism awards for her energy coverage.

 

The Collector by John Maher

Author: John Maher

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/387vb5n

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2VtLuEv

Publishing Information:

Published by Inkubator Books on 5th July 2020

Thank you

Welcome to the Damppebbles blog tour and my turn for telling you all about  this amazing new book, which is out tomorrow. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Thank you to Emma Welton, Inkubator and John Maher for my ecopy of this novel.

Book Details:

They say human life is the most precious thing. The Collector doesn’t agree.

When world renowned archaeologist Philip Carlton suddenly and unexpectedly commits suicide, the police are called to investigate. Heading up the investigation is Detective Lucy O’Hara, a Forensic Linguist – and she immediately sees something is wrong with the suicide note. In her gut, she knows this was cold-blooded murder.

Battling sceptical superiors and the Irish establishment, Lucy digs for the truth and begins to uncover a shadowy trade in ancient artefacts led by a mysterious figure known only as ‘The Collector’.

As Lucy works to uncover his identity, she soon realises she is up against a ruthless mastermind who is systematically eliminating anyone who might lead her to him. But Lucy won’t give up and soon The Collector turns his attention to her…

The Collector – the first in a gripping new series featuring Detective Lucy O’Hara.

My Thoughts

Last Saturday morning, I woke up early, way too early, so I made frothy coffee and snuggled up on my sofa with this book and I was hooked and only moved from my cosy spot to make more coffee and several bacon rolls..

The Collector opens with ailing Professor Philip Carlton on the cusp of revealing a long held secret, a specialist in the Boyne Valley Civilisation & early Celtic and pre-Celtic Ireland, he is at his temporary office located at a newly discovered henge site, it late, when he receives an unexpected visitor.

Enter Detective Lucy O’Hara, mother to Saoirse, ‘itinerate daughter of a former Senior Irish Ambassador to England, France, German & Egypt’. Lucy is a forensic linguist and lives in Ireland, as the book starts, she is sailing with her daughter enjoying a day out, when she receives a call from Superintendent George Reece, her boss. Asking her to attend a potentially suspicious death…

And so begins our adventure, the story is narrated from the points of view of both hero and villains. Every character has a detailed and distinct voice and a compelling backstory, our villain, is an educated man in his 70s, handy with a rifle, he is a suspicious, intolerant, secretive and with an greed for historical artefacts and known only as…The Collector

Lucy O’Hara our protagonist is whip-smart but has a tumulus past, her burgeoning career has been overshadowed by negative fallout from ‘the Bateman’ incident and from reoccurring memories of dreadful childhood trauma. Our first victim (yes there are more than one) is/ are all connected in some way to the Carlton family (who are compared to the infamous US Kennedy family) specifically the supposed curse that seems to effect both families and result in their unexplained and sudden demise.

The detailed & clever plot unfurls, the death of Philip Carlton  is considered to be a suicide, due to the manner of his death and a note left behind. But it is the suicide note that peaks Lucy’s professional linguistic interest, she doesn’t buy the suicide note. The language, lexis, syntax and style for a Professor is wrong/off and she is not convinced that it reads like something an academic would pen and it is this knowledge of linguistics that becomes a subtle yet dominant element of the story and how both the nuances of the spoken and written language can reveal vital clues. This component makes the story distinct from other crime novels I have previously enjoyed.

Personally, the sign of a great crime novel is all in the details: the depth of characters stories, the scope, span and development of the plot and the skill the author has in directing the reader towards an idea before unearthing further concepts or clues to confirm or deny that seeded thought.

This is a pacy, pithy and tension packed tale, it can be brutal on occasion but only to enhance the nefarious plot of our villain. Being able to ‘see’ the story from the villain’s perspective, ramped up the tempo of this book, knowing what was in store for our heroine, resulted in me spending considerable time warning my kindle of pending disaster not that these entreaties did an iota of good obviously. Lucy’s insight and determination, places her in The Collector’s cross hairs, more pieces of the puzzle slot into place, what is The Kilowatt Investigation, how far does the corruption reach…and oh so much more…but you will have to read it for yourself to find out.

As the story reaches its climax, all the pieces of this crime puzzle are uncovered and as the end game plays out… the sense of  awe and relief for us readers is palpable.  I tell you any more on this matter, I will be in need of a big spoiler alert banner on this review….

In case I haven’t made it clear, I loved this book and I couldn’t put it down. I only did so because I needed to recharge my kindle! I predict that Lucy O’Hara will become a firm favourite with many crime readers myself included. Author John Maher describes her at one point ‘Annie Oakley with a PhD’ which is eminently fitting as she is a shrewd, intrepid and memorable heroine. The ingredients of this book is in my opinion are reminiscent of MW Craven’s outstanding Poe & Tilly series, so if you loved those books, I believe this book is very much for you. Now all I have to do is await book 2…

About the Author:  John Maher

John Maher has published five novels and a collection of short stories. He has won national awards for radio play and short story with RTE in Ireland. His novel, The Luck Penny, was shortlisted for debut novel on BBC Radio 5.

A former teacher and lecturer, he holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (London).

He lives in a small Irish village, between the Atlantic and the Irish Sea, from which he steals away, from time to time, to visit the world outside the island.

THE COLLECTOR will be his first novel published with Inkubator Books.