Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay

Tim Blake's teenage daughter Sydney heads out to work one morning to a local hotel where she has a summer job as a receptionist.  When she fails to return home and doesn't answer her phone Tim drives to the hotel to check she is ok.  The staff there have never heard of her, she is not on their staff list and her car is not in the hotel car park.  Sydney has just vanished without a trace.  

Tim spends all his spare time trying to find his daughter.  She has been reported missing to the police but they don't seem to be doing very much to search for her.  

After a while bad things start to happen to Tim.  There are other people who are also looking for Sydney and he needs to find her first. 

This is the third Linwood Barclay book I have read. I have really enjoyed all of the stories.  'No Time for Goodbye' and 'Too Close to Home' are the others I have read.  They all keep the reader guessing to the end.  

Regarding Anna by Florence Osmund

At age 17 Grace Lindroth arrives home to find both her parents dead in the house.  When sorting through her parents things she finds a box containing papers which make her doubt that she is really their daughter.  She may be the child of Anna Thalia Vargas who was found dead in her home many years before and whose baby had disappeared. 

She trains to become a private investigator so that she can investigate her own past to discover who she really is and find out all she can about Anna. During her investigations Grace makes both friends and enemies and unearths a lot of hidden information.  

This is a great story, which is set in the 1960s.  It is the first book I have read by this author and I will certainly look out for more by her.  There were times when I really didn't want to put this book down.  

Seduction, Deceit and a Slice of Apple Pie (Marian Moyer book 2) by Allison Janda

Marian Moyer receives a late night phone call from her mother to say that Riley, Marian's niece, has been kidnapped.  

Marian, along with her friend Addison, return to their hometown to help in the search for Riley.  They are joined by Marian's two PI friends James and Mika, both of whom she is currently dating as she can't make up her mind which one she wants, and they also call in Jenny, a police officer friend who flies in to help them.  

It soon starts to look as though Riley's mum knows a lot more than she is telling and the kidnap is related to a drugs ring.  Marian and Jenny set off to find out more and end up in the middle of a drugs swap.  Can they get away and can they find Riley? 

Although this is book 2 in the Marian Moyer series it is a stand-alone story.  

Murder in Store by DC Brod

Quint McCauley is the Head of Security at Hauser's department store.  Preston Hauser, the owner, asks Quint to undertake some additional, personal work on his behalf.  Preston has received a number of threatening letters and he wants Quint to find out who has sent them.  

The next day, before Quint's eyes, Preston takes his daily dose of vitamin pills and almost instantly dies.  He has been poisoned.  Quint losses his job at the store but continues to investigate Preston's death and the letters.  The prime suspect seems to be Diana, Preston's much younger wife, but he finds a number of other people who also would benefit from Preston's death.  

Whilst undertaking the investigations, Quint himself becomes a target and narrowly avoids being killed.  

The Text by Claire Douglas

This is a short story. 

Emily is really annoyed when Andrew, her boss, suddenly announces that he may not be able to allow her to take some holiday she has booked as they are too busy at work.  She types out a text to send to her boyfriend to tell him what has happened, but in her hurry she accidentally sends the text to a group of her work colleagues instead.  The text unfortunately includes a typo, instead of 'I hope he does' it says 'I hope he dies'.  

The following day Andrew does not turn up for work.  Then the police call round to interview Emily as Andrew has been found dead.  He has been murdered.  

The Survival of Thomas Ford by John A A Logan

Thomas Ford and his wife Lea are driving home, as they round a bend in the road they are faced with a car coming straight at them which is overtaking a lorry.  To avoid a head-on collision Thomas turns the wheel and heads straight across in front of the lorry and towards a wall.  They go straight through the wall and plunge down into a Loch.  Thomas is the only one of them to survive.  When he finally regains consciousness in hospital he is able to tell the police about the red car, the bird-featured young man who was driving and the square-jawed young man who was the passenger.  As Thomas was the only witness and the police can not find any evidence of another car they doubt his version of the story and that the red car existed.  

Jimmy, the driver of the red car, and Robert his passenger, do not want to be found and identified.  Jimmy is the son of the local house building entrepreneur who also has a few secrets of his own he wants to keep hidden and so when it looks as though Jimmy may be close to being found out he does all he can to help him to get rid of any evidence, and people, who may know what has happened.  

This was a Kindle download.  It is a good, thriller type read with a few twists and turns.  The book has won a number of prizes.  

Viva Mallorca! by Peter Kerr

This is the third travel biography book by Peter Kerr telling the story of him and his family setting up a new home on a fruit farm in Mallorca. 

In the family's first autumn in Mallorca, with the help of friends and neighbours, they tackle the harvesting of the nuts from the trees.  They meet a few more British people who have also chosen to live in Mallorca and they finally tackle some of the home improvement jobs they have been putting off all summer. 

After spending a few weeks in Scotland helping with the harvesting, Sandy returns to Ca's Mayoral and has to decide whether he wishes to stay in Mallorca or return to Scotland to take up a place at agricultural college.  

Country Living by Cathy Woodman

This is the next book in the Talyton St George series. 

Stevie receives a phone call to let her know she is desperately needed on her father's farm. She returns home to Nettlebed Farm to find her father almost housebound after suffering a stroke.  The cows are undernourished and being checked on by animal welfare who are threatening to take them away and have her father imprisoned.  

Expecting to spend just a couple of weeks on the farm, Stevie ends up leaving both her job as an Accountant in London, and her boyfriend who is pushing her to get married, and moves back to the family farm to help sort out the problems.  She takes over the day to day running and makes plans to diversify to keep the farm solvent.  

Whilst looking after the cows and bringing them back to good health Stevie spends a lot of time with Leo the locum vet.  Romance could be in the air.  

The Dog Who Came in From the Cold by Alexander McCall Smith

This book is from The Corduroy Mansions series

William French receives a visit from Angelica Brockelbank who used to run a bookshop next to William's first wine shop.  They have not seen each other for around 15 years.  She now works for MI6 and wants to recruit William's dog, Freddie de la Hay, into their service. 

Caroline, another resident, is frustrated that her friend James seems to be rather lacking in romance. 

Barbara Ragg, whose flat is coveted by her business partner, has found romance and considers moving to Scotland to live with her new love.  

This is a gentle story which tells us about the lives of some of the residents within Corduroy Mansions.  

I have read many Alexander McCall Smith books from The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, The Sunday Philosophy Club series and the Von Igelfeld series.  I also have books from the 44 Scotland Street series on my bookshelf. 

Manana Manana: One Mallorcan Summer by Peter Kerr

This is the second travel biography book by Peter Kerr telling the story of him and his family setting up a new home on a fruit farm in Mallorca.  

The trees continue to produce plenty of fruit, even after a severe pruning by Pepe which leaves them looking in a sorry state after he has thinned out the branches.  Pepe and the neighbouring farmers all offer helpful advice to the family on how to look after the trees and which tasks should be undertaken during a waxing or a waning moon!  

As they head into their first summer at Ca's Mayoral and temperatures steadily rise they finally learn that they have to be as tranquilo as everyone else and work slowly to get all the jobs done.  They are now really settling into their new life, all except Sandy their eldest son who is not quite sure if he wants to stay or go back to Scotland.  

The Eye Collector by Sebastian Fitzek

Alexander Zorbach used to be a police negotiator.  After a traumatic situation when he shot a woman to save a kidnapped baby he left the police force and became an investigative journalist.  He has been reporting on the crimes of 'The Eye Collector'.  This is a serial killer who kills the mother and leaves a stopwatch in her hand.  The father than has 45 hours in which to find his kidnapped child before s/he will be dead with their left eye removed.  

At the site of the next body found with a stopwatch in her hand, police also find the wallet of Alex Zorbach.  He becomes the police's only suspect.  Alex meets Alina Gregoriev.  She is a blind physiotherapist who claims to have laid hands on the eye collector and seen visions of his actions.  They work together to try to find the identity of the eye collector and the location of the kidnapped children before the police arrest Alex for a crime he has not committed.  

This is a gripping story which races against the clock to save both Alex and the kidnapped children.  The story is set in Germany.  The original text was in German and has been translated into English.  

The Hitchcock Murders by Gavin Collinson

Josa Jilani has just been promoted to the rank of Detective Chief Inspector.  The first case she is asked to become involved in is that of a serial killer who is killing one woman a week and always on a Tuesday evening.  Immediately she becomes involved in the case her own life is threatened by the killer.  

The previous DCI on the case had enlisted the help of Daniel Blake, a criminologist who seems to have no background and who has helped in many past cases but has always done so quietly and not taken any credit for cases he has helped to crack.  

Daniel analyses the murders and realises that they resemble murders from different Alfred Hitchcock films.  The police wish to keep this bit of information out of the press but it is not to be.  Together Daniel and Josa visit Professor Paul Salinger who lectures on Hitchcock at Capital College to try to find out more.  

The killer knows all there is to know about Alfred Hitchcock, his films and his obsessions with some of his leading ladies.  As another Tuesday approaches the police need to work out who the killer is and stop him before he murders again. 

This is a really gripping story.  I already know some Hitchcock films and am now inspired to re-watch these and try some others I have not seen before.  There is a filmography at the end of the book.  

Gut Feeling by Victoria Browne

Ashleigh Lands had the opportunity to move to America with her family but chose to stay in London with her boyfriend Lee.  After a while she realises that Lee has been cheating with other women and she ends their relationship.  A few months later she meets Dave when he comes to mend a window at the dental practice where Ashleigh works.  They immediately get along and start to see each other regularly.  Dave seems much more open and honest than Lee.  

When Ashleigh returns from a week away in the sun with her friends she overhears some information about Dave which sounds as if he was been cheating on her too.  Ashleigh has to decide if she trusts Dave and wants to continue the relationship, if she wants to go back to Lee who has started contacting and hassling her again, or if she wants to get away from both of them and join her family in America to start a new life. 

This was a free Kindle download.  

Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann

This books skips between two timelines.  There is Leo Deakin in 1992 and Moritz Daniecki in 1917. 

Leo wakes up in a hospital in South America following a bus crash in which his girlfriend Eleni has died.  They had been travelling through South America and climbing mountains.  Leo has to deal with her death on his own and arrange for her body to be flown to Greece to her mother for the funeral.  Leo then returns to his own family and studies in London but struggles with his grief. 

Moritz Daniecki sets off from his home in Ulanow as a soldier to fight in the great war.  The conditions are very poor and many of the troops are killed in action.  The one thing that keeps Moritz going is that he is determined to return home to Lotte with whom he has shared one kiss before leaving.  To get home he has to walk through Russia and Siberia avoiding many towns and villages to evade capture. Will Lotte still be there waiting for him when he gets home after this mammoth journey?  

The Girl I Was Before: 'A Fun Feel Good Read' (Lily McDermott Series Book 1) by Izzy Bayliss

Three months after her marriage to Marc, Lily arrives home early planning to cook them a celebratory meal and finds Marc in bed with actress Nadia Williams.  She turns to her lifelong friend Frankie for support.  It soon becomes clear that Marc has no plans to return and Lily has to endure the shame of Marc and Nadia's relationship being splashed across the front of a celebrity magazine.  

Whilst trying to sort out her life and meet mortgage payments she can not afford on her own Lily then loses her job as a supervisor in a call centre.  As the one thing that Lily is really good at is baking, Frankie suggests that she sets up her own business making cakes for other people.  With Frankie's help and connections she soon starts to get orders coming in.  Whilst setting up cakes for a corporate event Lily meets Sam who helps her when she has a disaster with the arrangement.  

After she has seen Sam a few times Marc suddenly makes contact again. Is she ready to start another relationship or should she go back to her marriage? 

Snowball Oranges: One Mallorcan Winter by Peter Kerr

Peter and his wife Ellie decide to move their family from Scotland to Mallorca.  They buy an old farmhouse with a small fruit farm.  The previous occupants, from whom they have bought the property, now live in the house next door during the weekend and have an apartment in Palma during the week.  Peter and Ellie know nothing about growing and selling fruit.  

On arrival it becomes apparent that the appliances in the farmhouse are much older and not as well maintained as they had been led to believe.  There are problems with the plumbing, the electrics, the cooker and getting supplies of bottled gas.  Things which were supposed to have been done had not been - the chimney was not swept, the fields were not weeded, the gas bottles were empty, the wood supply was gone.  

As they settle into their new home, meet neighbours and become a part of the local community they keep finding more things which are not as they expected and more jobs which need doing to the house whilst at the same time learning how to tend the fruit trees and trying to find a buyer for the fruit.  Each of the neighbours offers their own form of advice and gives out instructions such as buy a pig or you need chickens! 

This is an autobiographical travel book.  It is the first in a series.  I also have 'Mañana Mañana', 'Viva Mallorca', 'A Basket Full of Snowflakes', and 'From Paella to Porridge' on my bookcase.

Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead by Christiana Miller

This is a Toad Witch Mystery. 

Mara is about to be evicted from her apartment and has nowhere to go.  She has been reading her tarot cards and the future does not bode well.  Mara, and her friend Gus, do some crafting to try to get her some money and a place to live.  Mara receives a parcel holding information that her Aunt has died and she is named as her sole heir and is now the owner of her Aunt's cottage.  

Mara packs up her belongings and moves to her Aunt's cottage.  Unfortunately, although dead, Aunt Tillie has not moved out of the cottage and she is very angry that Mara's meddling could well have resulted in her death.  

There are other demons and spirits in the cottage too.  Tillie insists that Mara is not safe there and must leave, she even resorts to quite a lot of violence to encourage Mara to go.  

Vets in Love by Cathy Woodman

This is the next book in the Talyton St George series.  

Nicci Chieveley is the new GP.  She had grown up in the area and after qualifying as a doctor decided to return to be in the place she loved and near to her mother.  Nicci is a keen horse rider and, along with her horse Willow, she is hoping to qualify for the next Badminton Horse Trails.  

Nicci meets Matt Warren, a local horse vet, and they are soon attracted to each other.  Although Matt works with horses, he does not ride and is not happy about Nicci putting herself at risk each time she competes in a competition.  Nicci's sister and young children turn up unexpectedly and move in with her.  Matt's ex-girlfriend is still around and seems intent on causing problems so the new romance does not start off very smoothly.  If they wish to be together they have a lot of obstacles to overcome.  

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor is nearly 30 years old.  She has had the same job since she was 21.  She does exactly the same things every day, eats the same food, wears the same clothes and does everything in her life to a very exact timetable.  She leads a very isolated life without any friends or family.  

As a child Eleanor had been involved in a house fire which had left one side of her face with a number of scars.  She doesn't remember exactly what had happened to her and she does not wish to know.  From the age of 10, until she went to university, she lived in foster care and children's homes.  

When at work Eleanor does not inter-act well with her colleagues, she never gets involved in conversations with them or understands the gossip she occasionally overhears.  To her everything in life is completely black or white.  One day she meets Raymond Gibbons, the new IT technician, when he comes to help out with a computer problem.  At the end of the day they leave the building at the same time and whilst walking in the same direction see an old man collapse in the street.  Raymond dashes over to help him and gets Eleanor involved too.  This takes her out of her usual routine.  Raymond keeps in touch with Eleanor and encourages her to visit the hospital to see how the old man is doing.  Slowly her usual routines are eroded and her life turned upside down. 

This is a very unusual story which highlights how isolated and lonely some people can be.  It is also very funny in places.  

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

The story spans many events in the lives of the Bird family over the years from 1981 through to 2011.  Most of the story is centered around the mother, Lorelei.  There is also the father, Colin, and the four children, Megan, Beth and the twins Rory and Rhys.  They live in a cottage in the Cotswolds.  

Lorelei lives only for the present and is a really happy and colourful character.  Over time, what started as collecting a few things which were pretty and colourful, turns into an obsession.  When Megan leaves the family home she becomes the complete opposite of her mother.  She is obsessively clean, neat, tidy and minimalist.  

A tragic event happens in the family home one Easter Sunday.  None of them can talk to each other about what happened but all their lives are affected and the family is slowly torn apart.  

I enjoyed this story and the interaction between different members of the family, although some of the relationships were a bit obscure.  There were a couple of occasions whilst reading the book, just as when I am watching television programmes about very dirty houses and people who hoard, when I felt a need to put the book down to go and sort, tidy or clean something!  

Payback by Kimberley Chambers

Brothers Vinny and Michael Butler are gangsters from the East End of London. Together they run a nightclub.  Vinny in particular is not well liked and has made a lot of enemies.  Life for the family becomes difficult when slowly people begin to turn against Vinny and plan their payback.  

This book is very much in the style of a Martina Cole novel with East End gangsters, drugs, killings and coarse language.  

This was a free download kindle book.  

The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop by J A Whiting

Angie Roseland opened The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop in the small town of Sweet Cove just a year ago.  She wanted to return to the town where she had good memories of the family visiting each summer to stay with their grandmother.  

Retired, elderly, Professor Linden visits the cafe every morning for her breakfast.  One day, just after leaving the cafe, she collapses and dies and the whole town is in shock.  Following a post-mortem it is revealed that Professor Linden has been murdered.  After the reading of the will Angie finds herself to be a beneficiary and this also puts her on the suspect list for the murder.  Angie, with the help of her sisters, is determined to find out the identity of the real killer.  

This is a Sweet Cove Cozy Mystery story.  This was a free download which I read on my Kindle.  

A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews

Now in their 30s, Grace, Ella and Flick have been friends since university.  When Ella's parents die she inherits the family holiday cottage near the sea in South Wales.  This is somewhere that Ella has always loved to be.  She invites her friends to join her at the cottage for a weeks holiday.  The party will Ella and her partner Art, Grace and her husband Harry and Flick who is single.  

Grace hopes that a week away will be relaxing and that it will give her and Harry time to spend together to get their marriage back on track.  Ella knows that Art finds the cottage far too isolated and would rather that she sold it and bought another one somewhere else, preferably in a warmer country.  Flick arrives at the cottage, late as usual, and unexpectedly bringing a new man with her.  

The anticipated week of catching up and having fun does not go as any of them planned. 

This is an easy read, chick-lit story that makes you feel real empathy for some of the characters.  

Other books I have read by Carole Matthews are 'With Love at Christmas', 'The Chocolate Lovers' Club' and 'The Cake Shop in the Garden'. 

The Chocolate Cure by Roxanne Snopek

On New Years Eve, in front of a crowd in a busy bar, Maddie Cash resolves to give up chocolate, men and meddling.  

She wants to become a better person and so volunteers to help at the local hospital.  Here she meets Mick Meyer who is badly injured and concussed after an accident.  She feeds him her emergency chocolate supply and gently massages his aching head when instructed to sit with him and keep him awake.  She keeps visiting Mick and helps and encourages him with his exercises to strengthen his injured shoulder and knee.  

Maddie is in danger of losing her job as a realtor if she doesn't make a sale within the next month.  Mick has a property which he wants to sell and is happy for Maddie to handle the sale, but it needs a lot of work to get a good price and is unlikely to sell so quickly.  

This book was a free Kindle download.  It is an easy read enjoyable story.  

The Village Vet by Cathy Woodman

Tessa Wilde's wedding day does not start well.  The wedding car hits a dog when they are on the way to the church.  Tessa, a veterinary nurse, insists that they take the dog to the vets before continuing the journey to the church.  Then, once underway, the wedding is interrupted by her old friend Jack Miller.  

Tessa's Aunt Fifi is the Chair of the Talyton Animal Rescue charity.  They are opening up a new sanctuary and Tessa is offered the live-in manager job.  Here Tessa find herself working with Jack who is an Animal Welfare Officer.  Together they rescue and care for a variety of animals, some domestic who need to be re-homed and some wild to be returned to their natural environment when well again.  

This is another book in the Talyton St George series. 

The Murder Road by Stephen Booth

A Windmill Feed Solutions HGV is found stuck under a low bridge on a narrow country lane.  The truck is completely blocking the one road into and out of Shawhead.  DI Ben Cooper and his team are called in to investigate.  There is blood found in the cab and the driver is missing.  

Some of the residents are only concerned with getting the road cleared and re-opened so that they can continue with their daily routines.  It is an inconvenience that the driver is missing under what looks like suspicious circumstances and the police will not immediately move the truck as it could be a crime scene.  

Although the hamlet consists of only 5 properties the residents do not seem to get along and some do not even seem to know each other.  

During the course of the investigation a connection with an incident which happened 8 years before comes to light.  

The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan

When all the libraries are about to close in Birmingham Nina Redmond is at risk of losing her job.  She, along with about 50 others, is expected to apply for one of just two roles which will be available in the new, almost bookless, media centres which will be created. 

When asked what she would really like to do, Nina admits she would like to run her own, small, bookshop. Nina sees a van advertised for sale and the idea begins to grow that she could buy the van and use this as the base for a mobile bookshop.  The van she really wants is for sale in Scotland.  She sets off up north to look at the van and falls in love with the beautiful scenery, and the peace and quiet of the area. 

Now she needs to make the business a success and find herself the man of her dreams.  

I have previously read 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkin's Sweet Shop of Dreams' and have 'The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris' on my bookshelf.  

Lydia Fielding by Susan Sallis

After Lydia Fielding celebrates her 21st birthday on her family farm, Milton Mains in Exmoor, due to her age there is then an expectation that she should marry.  Lydia is being pursued by two young men with whom she has grown up - Gus Pascoe who wants to get his hands on the family farm and Wesley Peters who is from one of the local very strict Methodist families.  Lydia has no current desire to marry anyone.  

Lydia is summons by Lady Maud to help to look after her grand-daughters who are visiting for the summer.  Initially she is nervous about this but soon finds that she enjoys the time spent teaching the girls about the local wild life and teaching them new skills.  

Lydia's brother Alan is forced to marry Wesley's younger sister Marella and this causes further bad feeling between the two families.  Eventually Lydia moves to Bristol to get away and start a new life. 

I think I may have read a previous novel by Susan Sallis many years ago but do not remember which one it was.  This novel reminded me of the style of a Catherine Cookson story. 

Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan

After over 20 years of marriage Rose Lloyd is devastated when her husband Nathan announces that he has been having an affair and is leaving.  Rose then finds out that the person Nathan is leaving her for is her much younger friend and colleague Minty.  

Rose starts to look back on their life together, how they met and the plans she had had beforehand.  After Nathan has left, Rose has the opportunity to reassess her life and to make some changes of her own.  

The story goes backwards and forwards from past events in Rose's life to her present day situation.  

This is the first book I have read by Elizabeth Buchan.  I would read another of her novels.  

The Sweetest Thing by Cathy Woodman

After her divorce Jennie Copeland decides to follow her dream and buys an old ramshackle house in the Devon village of Talyton St George.  She moves with her three children and plans to set up her own cake baking business. 

The house has been purchased from Guy Barnes, the farmer who lives next door.  This had been his family home which he did not want to have to sell.  

This book is the third in the series about Talyton St George.  The previous two books were about the vets practice, which does also appear in this story.  

Folly by Alan Titchmarsh

The chapters in the book alternate between the past (from 1949 onwards) and the present (2007-8).  

The story begins in 1949 when 5 friends - Leo, Mac, Richard, Harry and Eleanor - all attended Oxford University.  

In the present day in Bath, Jamie Ballantyne (grandson of Harry) works in the family business as a auctioneer.  Artemis King (grand-daughter of Richard) works in their family business buying and selling works of arts.  Artemis, known as Missy, has just returned to Bath from America.  

For years there has been a feud running between the Ballantyne and King families.  Jamie and Missy want to be together but unknown history between the families keep them apart.  They both separately begin to find out information about the past, the feud and the implications to them and to their families.  

This is the first Alan Titchmarsh book I have read.  I was not really sure what to expect from the story, but found it enjoyable and well written.  

Stand By Me by Sheila O'Flanagan

After leaving school Dominique Brady begins working as a waitress in burger bar.  There she meets Brendan Delahaye a young builder with aspirations to start his own building company.  

After a very short time Dominique founds that she is pregnant and she and Brendan quickly marry.  After giving birth to their daughter Kelly, Dominique suffers from post-natal depression.  She receives a lot of support from Brendan's family and over time begins to feel better.  In the meantime Brendan's business has been growing and he becomes a very successful businessman.  The Delahayes become rich and famous.  

Suddenly one day everything falls apart and Dominique has to find a way to get through all the bad publicity and re-build her life.  

I have previously read 'Destinations' by this author and I have 'How Will I Know', 'Better Together', 'My Favourite Goodbye', 'The Perfect Man' and 'Dreaming of a Stranger' on my bookshelf.  

Shadow Kill by Chris Ryan

John Porter and John Bald, both ex SAS men, are called up by the Intelligence Service to take a trip to Sierra Leone.  There they are to find and extract Ronald Soames a former SAS Commanding Officer, who has been overseeing security at a diamond mine.  Rebel forces are overtaking the country and it is no longer safe for Soames to remain there.  

When they find him, Porter and Bald discover that Soames has his own agenda and 'extra work' he has been undertaking and does not want to be extracted, he wants to get back to the diamond mine.  

I have read a few Chris Ryan books.  This one was perhaps my least favourite as the story takes place over just a few days and there was a lot of continued fighting and shooting.  The first one I read was 'The Watchman' which I thoroughly enjoyed.  

In a Cottage in a Wood by Cass Green

Nothing is going well for Neve.  She has split from her boyfriend and is currently living with her sister, brother in law and their children.  Her job isn't going very well and one night on her way back home from a party she bumps into a young women called Isabelle on Waterloo Bridge.  

Isabelle is wearing just a dress on a really cold night.  Neve offers her money for a bus home, but Isabelle insists that Neve takes a parcel from her and then she jumps off the bridge into the icy water below.  

A couple of weeks later Neve receives a letter from a Solicitor asking her to make contact.  Isabelle has unexpectedly left her cottage to Neve.  With nothing else to do and nowhere to go Neve heads to the cottage.  Neve begins to learn of Isabelle's poor mental health.  The cottage has bars at all the windows as Isabelle was very scared.  Strange things start to happen to Neve in the cottage, perhaps it wasn't all in Isabelle's mind.  

This is a really gripping story with a number of unexpected twists and turns. 

My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella

Katie Brenner aims to live the perfect life in London.  She has a long commute into work each day as she can only afford to live in a small, shared, rented flat which is miles from her office. She budgets very carefully as money is tight and life in London is expensive.  

Just after she is suddenly and very unexpectedly fired from her job, she is asked to go back to her family home in Somerset for a couple of weeks to help her dad and step mum who are setting up a glamping holiday village on their farm.  

When Demeter, Katie's old boss, turns up on the farm with her family for a holiday Katie can't resist the chance to get her own back on Demeter for treating her badly and shattering her dreams.  Demeter always seemed to have the perfect family and live the perfect life, but as Katie gets to see more of her she realises that this may not be true and she and Demeter may actually have more in common than she thought.  

This is an interesting and fun story.  I have read quite a few Sophie Kinsella books, most, but not all, in the Shopaholic series and also 'The Undomestic Goddess', and 'Remember Me?'.  I have also read numerous books by Madeline Wickham (the real name of Sophie Kinsella).  I have 'Can you Keep a Secret?', 'I've Got Your Number' and 'Twenties Girl' on my bookshelf. 

The Funny Farm by Jackie Moffat

This is a non-fiction book.  

Jackie Moffat moved from London to set up a small farm in Cumbria.  

Each chapter is an article which Jackie wrote to appear in the Cumbria and Lake District Life magazine.  They each tell a short story of life on the farm, or occasionally something Jackie is doing, places she is going, or just things she has been thinking about.  We are introduced to many different cows, horses, sheep, pigs, dogs, a goat and even an old tractor and learn of their quirky ways and behaviour.  

Jackie's joy of being outside and caring for the animals is very clear.  The hard times of the foot and mouth crisis are seen through the eyes of an animal lover who had to lose all her animals and look at empty fields until it was again deemed safe to re-stock. 

Coming from magazine articles, each chapter is only around 5 pages long so the book is very easy to pick up for a few minutes to read an odd chapter.  

Must be Love by Cathy Woodman

Maz and Emma are partners in the busy Otter House Vets practice in the fictional market town of Talyton St George in Devon.  

With Emma soon to be taking maternity leave they need a locum vet to provide cover and help Maz in the practice.  Emma finds Drew, an Australian vet, who is just finishing a contract with a practice in Edinburgh.  Drew proves to be very popular with a lot of local ladies, but Maz has reservations about him.  

Maz is in a relationship with Alex Fox-Gifford.  Fox-Gifford senior, with son Alex, run the local rival vets practice Talyton Manor Vets.  Alex's parents do not like Maz.  They are constantly rude and insulting to her and are not happy about her relationship with their son.  

There is a lot happening for Maz as she tries to keep the busy practice going, find time to spend with Alex, keep an eye on Drew and then she gets some unexpected news of her own which she has to deal with too.  

This is the second book in a series but can be read as a stand alone story.  I have previously read the first book 'Trust Me, I'm a Vet' and I have other books in the series on my book shelf, the third 'The Sweetest Thing', the fifth 'The Village Vet', the sixth 'Vets in Love' and the seventh 'Country Living'.  I am missing the fourth book 'It's a Vet's Life'. 

Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson

This is the true story of Catherine falling in love with the French language as a child and deciding to live in France.  She spends time in France whilst completing her degree course and then returns to take up a one year teaching post at the Sorbonne Nouvelle.  

Whilst in Paris she meets and falls in love with Mr Frog.  They live together and after a few years they have a daughter together.  By now Catherine is doing a different job, Mr Frog is concentrating on his career and their relationship is falling apart.  

Catherine begins to write a blog called Petite Anglaise which she uses as a diary and an outlet to her thoughts and frustrations.  Through the blog she meets new friends and gains the confidence to make changes in her life.  

This is an interesting story in which Catherine is very honest about her life and feelings.  It is  very easy to read and if you missed the words 'a true story' on the front of the book, you could well think this was a fictional novel.   

My 2017 Book Reading Statistics

From 1 January to 31 December 2017 I have read 33 books.  

The shortest book was Stolen by Alison Golden and Gabriella Zinnas with 200 pages (a Kindle book). 

The longest book was Amy Snow by Tracy Rees which had 568 pages. 

I have read a total of 12,727 pages over the year which is only just over half that read in 2016.  

Tomorrow I will begin my first book of 2018! 

Secrets of Death by Stephen Booth

This is another Ben Cooper and Diane Fry novel. 

The body of Roger Farrell is found in his car in a car park in the peak district.  He has obviously committed suicide.  DI Ben Cooper finds a card in the car with the words 'Secrets of Death'.  

DI Cooper begins to investigate if there is a link between a number of suicides in the area.  There is a concern that there may be negative press in the area as a place for 'suicide tourism'.  Within the investigations he interviews one person, Anson Tate, who was saved from his own act of suicide by a passing tourist.  If he can get Mr Tate to talk and tell him about the 'secrets of death' he may be able to stop further suicide attempts taking place.  

In another division, at the same time, DS Diane Fry is investigating Roger Farrell and when he is found to be dead Cooper and Fry share information to help both of their investigations.