Truly, Darkly, Deeply by Victoria Selman Genre: Mystery & Thriller Published: July 2022, Quercus Books Swathi’s Rating: 4/5 Get it on Amazon Blurb: 12-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose. When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murders, questions remain as to his guilt — questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying…
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Book Recommendation – Greenwich Park – Katherine Faulkner
Helen has it all... Daniel is the perfect husband. Rory is the perfect brother. Serena is the perfect sister-in-law. And Rachel? Rachel is the perfect nightmare. When Helen, finally pregnant after years of tragedy, attends her first antenatal class, she is expecting her loving architect husband to arrive soon after, along with her confident, charming brother Rory and his pregnant wife, the effortlessly beautiful Serena. What she is not expecting is Rachel. Extroverted, brash, unsettling single mother-to-be Rachel, who just wants to be Helen's friend. Who just wants to get know Helen and her friends and her family. Who just wants to know everything about them. Every little secret… Masterfully…
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Book Review – Thinking Out Loud by Tapan Ghosh
Life is nothing but a bag full of simple joys, some instances of surprise, few coincidences of craziness, and some days of melancholy often sheathed as destiny or suffering. Thinking Out Loud is a beauteous conglomeration of various aspects of life, put together with a hint of philosophical perception by renowned author Tapan Ghosh. It is the affiliation that the readers will find in author’s understanding of varied facets of life in this book, which makes it an ideal choice to learn the art of positive response even in challenging situations. With many of his published books in fiction and non-fiction genre, Thinking Out Loud stands apart with its completely…
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Book Recommendation – Into The Dark by Fiona Cummins
THE PLACE: Seawings, a beautiful Art Deco home overlooking the sweep of the bay in Midtown-on-Sea. THE CRIME: The gilded Holden family - Piper and Gray and their two teenage children, Riva and Artie - has vanished from the house without a trace. THE DETECTIVE: DS Saul Anguish, brilliant but with a dark past, treads the narrow line between light and shade. One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eerie scene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted. In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across…
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Book Review – Blood & Brown Sugar: The Ride of His Life
Motorcycles, guns, heroin. These things were not a part of Alex Crossman’s life. He was a simple young man, leading a peaceful, mundane existence. Right up to the moment he accidentally injures a member of Montreal’s most nefarious motorcycle club, the Chevaux de Fer. As recompense, Alex is forced to travel to India and escort the Club’s latest drug shipment home. While under the watchful eye of the Club’s Indian contingent and ensnared by the seductive charms of its president’s mistress, Ipsita Chaudhary, Alex begins his dark and agonizing metamorphosis from a law-abiding citizen to outlaw biker. Now, inescapably leveraged into the gang’s sinister world and with the Narcotics Control…
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Book Recommendation – The Guest Room – Rona Halshall
Ever since Steph’s husband walked out after a thirty-year marriage, home hasn’t felt like a safe haven. Her daughter Bea thinks she’s imagining things. But Steph knows that the noises in the night, the open windows she knows she left closed, the strange smell in the kitchen – none of it feels right. Then her house is broken into, and a young man named Noah helps her fix the front window. He’s fallen on hard times and Steph impulsively offers him a place to stay. At least if he is there, she won’t be home alone. Before long Noah is living in Bea’s old bedroom, paying rent, and getting his…
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Book Recommendation | The Appeal – Janice Hallett
The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their fellow castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival. But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an…
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Book Recommendation – The Neighbor War – Katie Bailey
Aiden Shaw is the smuggest, most infuriating man I’ve ever met. Ever. He’s also my next door neighbor. We’ve been at war for four bitter years. But last night, Aiden crossed a line. The worst part? My public humiliation was caught on camera, and the video’s a viral sensation. Now, the entire internet is raving about our “off the charts chemistry” and “crackling sexual tension.” Apparently, everyone is delusional. And blind. Yet when Aiden turns up on my doorstep, asking me to pose as his girlfriend, I find myself saying yes. Even if that means taking a couples vacation with him. Yup, couples vacation. With my mortal enemy. Who I…
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Book Recommendation – Meet Me in the Middle – Vani Mahesh
Anu is 30, a teacher, mother to a four-year-old and wife to a husband who worships the ground she walks on. She is surrounded by doting parents and loyal friends. Life is perfect … until her husband develops a sudden desire for a life of luxury and forces Anu to move to the plush neighbourhood of Verdant Green. The sudden jump from a middle-class life to a super-luxurious one that they can barely afford, lands Anu in one mess after another. Faced with everything from casual classism to extravagant yoga classes, she must now tackle this new life in her own inimitable style even as her marriage crumbles.
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Book Recommendation – Unmissing – Minka Kent
A return from the past knocks a family dangerously off-balance in a novel of spiraling suspense by Washington Post and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Minka Kent. Merritt Coletto and her husband, Luca, have the life they dreamed of: a coastal home, a promising future, and a growing family. That dream ends with a late-night knock on the door. Weak, broken, and emaciated, it’s Luca’s first wife, Lydia. Missing for ten years, presumed dead, and very much alive, she has quite a story. Her kidnapping. A torturous confinement that should’ve ended with her dead. And finally, escape. Racked with guilt over the beautiful life they’ve built, Merritt and Luca agree…
