If you are looking for a gift for Christmas, perhaps a Secret Santa, this book is sure to impress.

A novel take on a local murder with a detective with “Gifts”. Set in Wales it gives a flavour of the local everyday Wales and has interesting characters especially the new boy detective who seems to be psychic, or maybe not quite. He does  have communications with a voice who seems to guide his impressions of others. His penchant for Tarot cards helped by his voice helps him to navigate his place as the new boy in a new job . Getting to know his colleagues and sidestep his reputation for oddness  which has followed him from Cardiff. This is a thoroughly good read, not to be put down lightly. 

Our detective Madoc Palmer has a new job, new colleagues and a brand new murder first day on the job.

The victim is found face down in a builders trench and while retrieving him another older body is found.

The bones have hair extensions and breast implants along with them and she is estimated to be young 16 to 25 years old .

The team have a difficult job with this and makes for a fast paced story with well drawn characters. Madoc.is  having a hard time keeping his voice out of his investigation and tries hard to keep his  psychic connection under wraps  Meanwhile his new boss is having a hard time not to be attracted to him .

This is a thrilling read lots of well plotted twists and turns the burgeoning relationship between DI Atkins and her new Sergeant Madoc Palmer, will no doubt develop further in another book. I look forward to reading that.

Behind the curtain By Anita D Hunt

Behind the curtain is an interesting debut novel dealing with domestic abuse.

A seeming successful an marries a woman who he considers from a lower social strata than himself.

The whirlwind romance becomes a nightmare as he turns into a controlling partner. With no access to money or friends , his grip on her mind and sense of self is soul destroying. 

For friends and family looking on the sense of helplessness they feel is heartbreaking. Her husband seems to be unassailable and her situation without a solution. After a violent attack she loses her baby and starts to write a diary. Her apparent suicide seems to rock her husband but after a year of mourning a new employee at his firm takes his attention and takes the place of his dead wife.

Trapped in the same nightmare as her predecessor she finds the diary and this opens an avenue for escape and an unexpected twist in the tale.

This book opens a door on the secret world of control present in many

relationships, and the helplessness many family and friends feel when they have a loved one trapped in such a situation.

We also get an insight to the controller and his/her reasons for their behaviour. 

This is a well written and thought provoking book. Well worth a read.

Taking the Plunge

 Today I’m taking part in the blog tour for Burrowed by Maressa  Mortimer. 

This us a young adult novel set on the beautiful island if Ximiu. 

The young heroine is Jasira, daughter of the Xibai, the female governing official of the Island. Along with her friend Ilori, who is the son of the Vice-Xibai, they start to uncover some sinister goings on.

Ximiu is “going green” - so that’s a good thing, right? Well perhaps not as first all the island cars disappear almost overnight.

There have been disappearances of young girls, one of Jasira’s friends had a younger sister disappear.

People start to move to the mainland and people move in who are keen on the idea of “ going green”.

The author uses great skill to build a creepy sense of something sinister beneath the surface of the beautiful island of Ximiu. The island is run by a matriarchal system of female officials. However there is a sense that the men are not too happy about this situation.

This novel is aimed at YA but can be enjoyed by anyone adults included. The story goes on to show the changes to be made by the ruling council and the unfortunate consequences. Babies are born stillborn. 

There are two Albinos on the Island, Axixa and Kamua, a brother and sister. 

Our two heroes believe them to be behind the strange disappearances; cars, electricity, bags of flour, young girls even ashphalt from the roads!

The two friends set out to save the Island, extremely well crafted by the author this part if the story is all consuming and very vivid.

An excellent read for YA or Adult please read and enjoy this book.

 

The Rebellion of 1745 has been characterised by historians as the story of the men who intrigued and fought. Flora McDonald has been cast as a classic heroine., the one woman who comes to mind when we think of the ‘45.

Maggie Craig has written a book to put this right. This  book has been deeply researched and beautifully written. 

The untold stories of the women who accompanied there men to the battles and waited for news, the women at Clifton Moor and Prestonpans, and ultimately Culloden. 

These women encouraged their men believed in the rightful Prince and bore the brunt of the bloodletting after Culloden. Maggie tells of the Ladies,the wives of wealthy men who raised the men to fight in support of the Bonnie Prince - sometimes against their husbands wishes. The great ladies who marched to raise the standard. There are also the stories of ordinary women, highland women, whose men went to fight. As in all wars , the women left behind or accompanying the Jacobite army.

A riveting book, once you start you won’t be able to put it down.

The Paradigm. Lorraine Smith

 This latest book by Jonathan Cahn takes us on a journey through time to discover ancient secrets which are relevant to us today. 

We are taken through biblical times to ancient Israel where the prophet Elijah battles King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. These events are linked  to our modern political stages particularly America. America was founded on biblical principles. As Ahab  and Jezebel promoted child sacrifice and rebellion against Gods laws, so are our societies today. Abortion, murder, and greed to name a few, run rampant in our cultures.  The election of Donald trump, Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama are all discussed and reveal the biblical template for our world

Elijah warned Ahab and Jezebel but they would not listen. The author shows how these events are pertinent to us today and gives dire warning for our world today. 

A Shetland Winter Mystery Lorraine Smith

The latest book in the Shetland sailing mysteries. Marsali Taylor  shows her love for the Island through her vivid descriptions and creative stories.

The main characters are a solo sailor called Cass Lynch and Inverness DCI Gavin McRae. In the story  they are the victims of “Trowies” who appear to be the Shetland Wee Folk. They are in the shadow of the Wind Farm development being built on the Island.  It has all nail biting pleasure of unexplained deaths, sabotage of the wind farm development and even mystical creatures.

We are never quite sure if these beings are real or not, until two brothers pull a stunt trying to stage a vanishing to make it look like Trowie mischief. 

Then there is the sabotage at the wind farm, Trowies or teenagers.?  The latter turn out to be the culprits for the Trowie sightings, However that leaves the murders….

The brothers are part of a family where the eldest’s mother lives not too far away and the younger lives back at the family home with his Mother the second wife. The unfolding of the hatred of the two women for each other is a background to the death of both sons. Unusual and full of twists and turns, this book is riveting. There are an abundance of sub plots and  unusual circumstances to keep you guessing.These are all set against the backdrop of the authors vivid descriptions of Shetland. there were times when I could smell the sea. 

An excellent Christmas stocking filler.