Guest Review: A Fatal Truth by Faith Martin

As the Hughes family celebrate bonfire night, a terrible accident leaves the garden shed in flames – and father and grandfather Thomas trapped inside.

 

Tragic though it is, Thomas’s death passes without suspicion – until a local journalist makes accusations of a police cover-up in the press. WPC Trudy Loveday is sent to investigate, and asks coroner Clement Ryder to help.

 

But the more questions the two ask the less clear the case seems. There’s no evidence of foul play, and yet the dead man’s family are obviously hiding something. Then there are Thomas’s dubious business practices – was someone out for revenge?

 

All Trudy and Clement know for sure is that everyone is lying – and that they must find the truth…

 

Review: This book is the fifth in the mystery series by Faith Martin in which city coroner Dr Clement Ryder and WPC Trudy Loveday join forces in investigating suspicious deaths. The stories are set in the Oxford area in the 1960s, when female police officers were less common than they are in the present day, and were often treated more like secretaries than investigative officers. Trudy Loveday therefore considered herself privileged to be able to work in the field with the coroner. I am enjoying witnessing their growing friendship with each successful case, despite the differences in age and background between them.

In this case, the pair are called upon to investigate the death of an elderly man on bonfire night, when the garden shed in which he is working goes up in flames. His death would have been dismissed as a tragic accident, but a local newspaper reporter casts doubt upon the veracity of the police investigation, prompting calls for a more in-depth study. Since the victim was a ruthless business man who has made many enemies over the years, there is no lack of motive for murder, but also no clear suspects. The family, too, appear to have no great love for the man. As the reporter becomes more persistent in his allegations, Dr Ryder and Trudy begin to wonder just what is behind his apparent dislike of one of the man’s sons in particular. Although they are sure that something is being hidden from them, they are frustrated at how difficult it is to discover what that is.

I have read all of the books in this series and have enjoyed every one of them, this one being no exception. Every time I sit down to read one, I think that I may be able to spot the perpetrator before the end, but the plots are so skilfully engineered that I fail every time. This is surely the sign of a good mystery writer. The present story was slightly different from the others that I have read so far; I can’t reveal more than that without giving out spoilers. I, personally, liked the way in which this investigation ended. I would recommend this book, and the others in the series, to fans of cosy crime - I’m sure they would not be disappointed. I hope there will be many more books in this series.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Unboxing March Enchanted Fandom Drinking vessel Subscription Box-You Have To See This!

via IFTTT

Top Ten Tuesday: Funny Book Titles

  

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

I'm not entirely sure how to interpret this one, is it titles of books that are funny, titles that are amusing or titles that are peculiar? I've picked some books with titles that stand out to me...

Movie Review: Nomadland | What Did It Do To Get So Many Oscar Nominations?

via IFTTT

Book Review: The World At My Feet by Catherine Isaac (My Favourite Book of 2021?)

via IFTTT

Audiobook Review: Difficult Women by Helen Lewis

Well-behaved women don’t make history: difficult women do.

Helen Lewis argues that feminism’s success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It’s time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. 

In this audiobook, you’ll meet the working-class suffragettes who advocated bombings and arson; the princess who discovered why so many women were having bad sex; the pioneer of the refuge movement who became a men’s rights activist; the ‘striker in a sari’ who terrified Margaret Thatcher; the wronged Victorian wife who definitely wasn’t sleeping with the prime minister; and the lesbian politician who outraged the country. Taking the story up to the present with the 21st-century campaign for abortion services, Helen Lewis reveals the unvarnished - and unfinished - history of women’s rights.

Drawing on archival research and interviews, Difficult Women is a funny, fearless and sometimes shocking narrative history which shows why the feminist movement has succeeded - and what it should do next. The battle is difficult, and we must be difficult, too.

Review: I really love when an audiobook is divided into very specific chapters like this one because not every chapter is going to be relevant or new information to everyone and so it was great to be able to chop and change and skip bits I wasn't as interested in over the course of this audiobook. 

This book is divided into 11 sections plus and intro and an epilogue so it means that if you're feeling like listening to the section on sex one day but voting the next you can navigate your way through the book as such. Also these 11 fights are not solely based around issues facing women in the UK but around the world and in Ireland as well. I like how Helen Lewis narrates this one and gives her own personal anecdotes alongside the facts and figures that she has curated. There are also personal accounts from other women she had interviewed or profiled and they factor into each section with relatable human experiences. 

This book is not a preachy book. Helen discusses how she felt when she had to go through a divorce and din't just land on the side of, well she should never have got married in the first place. She talks about being out spoken when she feels that the feminist agenda is being over shadowed by something simply becoming a media circus or a cause for the news to pick up on. 

I'm not saying that I loved every section of this book or that everything was brand new information that hasn't been covered in other books but if you are just beginning to pick up books like this or just branching into nonfiction then this would be a good starting point. The book also details other writers who have written books on the subject in pother different ways and so would be a great stepping stone into picking up more books about feminism and women's studies in general. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Guest Review: A Fatal Secret by Faith Martin

Oxford, 1961

A family day out at Briar’s Hall ends in tragedy when a young boy goes missing – and his body is found at the bottom of a disused well in the orchard.

It looks like a simple case of an eleven-year-old exploring where he shouldn’t: a tragic accident. But Coroner Clement Ryder and Probationary WPC Trudy Loveday aren’t convinced. If Eddie had been climbing and fallen, why were there no cuts or dirt on his hands? Why would a boy terrified of heights be around a well at all?

Clement and Trudy are determined to get to the truth, but the more they dig into Briar’s Hall and the mysterious de Lacey family who live there, the murkier things become.

Could it be that poor Eddie’s death was murder? There are rumours of blackmail in the village, and Clement and Trudy have a horrible feeling that Eddie stumbled on a secret that someone was willing to kill for…

Review: This is book 4 in the Ryder and Loveday series of murder mysteries from Faith Martin. The books feature cases in which Oxford city coroner Dr Clement Ryder and WPC Trudy Loveday work together to investigate deaths of uncertain causes. I have been working through the stories in order and enjoying seeing the pair succeed in getting to the bottom of several investigations. Each book is set in the Oxford area in the 1960s. Although each is part of a series, the books can all be read as standalones.

In this story, Dr Ryder and Trudy join forces to investigate the suspicious death of a young boy who has been found dead in an old well during an Easter egg hunt. Their investigations lead them into the world of a wealthy local family who own the impressive house and grounds where the egg hunt took place. They also question servants and groundsmen at the house as well as the boy’s family and local villagers as they try to piece together the sequence of events and everyone’s movements on the afternoon the boy died. It seems that key to the investigation is the daughter of the house, who was best friends with the boy. The investigators begin to wonder whether something that the children have discovered might have led to his death, perhaps a secret that would have been disastrous for the family had it been revealed, a secret that might lead even them into danger.

Once again, Faith Martin has presented the reader with a wonderful mystery, brimming with interesting characters and situations. I thought some of the characters were very dark, giving a definite feeling of danger throughout the book. When it became apparent what was behind all the secrecy, I was as surprised as the investigators, but even more so by the twist at the end. In addition to the secret involved in the case, Dr Ryder is still trying to keep his failing health hidden from everyone else, but Trudy is becoming more and more suspicious. I would recommend this entire series to other readers who enjoy a thrilling mystery and am looking forward to Ryder and Loveday’s next case.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US