The Summer of Serendipity by Ali McNamara

Serendipity 'Ren' Parker and her assistant Kiki travel to Ballykiltara on the West coast of Ireland to search out the perfect property for their client.  After a few days they come across The Welcome House.  The house seems perfect and it has the splendid views that are a must for their client.  The only problem is that no-one knows who owns the house.  It has been open and used as a refuge for weary travellers and those in need of sanctuary for centuries.  There are many local legends about the house.  

Ren is determined to find out who owns the house and to dispel any local myths.  Whilst she is investigating the house's history she becomes drawn in to the local community and especially to the manager of the local hotel where they are staying. 

I have read 'Breakfast at Darcy's' which takes place in the same area of Ireland and Darcy makes an appearance in this book too.  I also have 'From Notting Hill with Love ... Actually', 'From Notting Hill to New York ... Actually' and 'Daisy's Vintage Cornish Camper Van' on my bookshelf by the same author.  

A Friend of the Family by Lisa Jewell

Gerry and Bernie London have three grown up sons.  Tony, the eldest, runs his own company and is recently divorced.  Sean, the middle son, has found fame since writing a novel but is now struggling to write his next book.  Ned, the youngest, flew off to Australia three years ago with a woman he had just met in a bar and has now returned home alone.

All three of the sons are struggling with difficulties in both their work lives and in their relationships with their girlfriends.  

Gervase, who has recently started lodging with Gerry and Bernie, is an unusual character.  He can see that Tony, Sean and Ned are heading down the wrong paths and in his own strange way helps them to see where they need to change.  

One Day In May by Catherine Alliott

Hattie Carrington runs 'The French Partnership' selling French antiques and undertaking interior design projects with her partner Maggie du Bose.  They are asked by Hattie's brother in law to decorate some rooms in The Abbey, his ancestral home, into which he and his family have just moved.  Their home is in the village of Little Crandon, where Letty, the widow of Hattie's first love, still lives.  When visiting her sister she always avoids going into the village as she does not want to bump into Letty.  

When work starts on The Abbey Hattie has to face up to some of the things that have happened in her past.  She can't continue to keep so many secrets if she is to find happiness and move on with her life.  

Other books by Catherine Alliott I have read are 'Not That Kind of Girl', 'Going too Far', 'A Rural Affair', 'The Old Girl Network' and 'The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton'.  I also have 'The Wedding Day' on my bookshelf which I have yet to read. 

The Dying Hours by Mark Billingham

This is a Tom Thorne Thriller.

Tom has been demoted and is back working as a uniformed officer.  When he attends the scene of what appears to be the double suicide of an elderly couple he just gets a feeling that something isn't quite right.  The officer in charge of the Murder Investigation Team doesn't see it as being at all suspicious and dismisses his concerns. 

More suicides keep happening and Tom is convinced that they are murders staged to look like suicides.  The only way he can look into these is to start his own personal investigation.  He needs to find out what links the people and why they are prepared to take their own lives.  

This is the first Mark Billingham book I have read.  It is obviously one in a series of books with the character Tom Thorne.  There are a few references to a previous story which give background as to why Tom has been demoted, but this can be read as a stand-alone story. 

Dark Pines by Will Dean

Tuva Moodyson is a deaf newspaper reporter in the small Swedish town of Gavrik.  She is hoping to write a great story which will help her career and get her noticed by a big national paper.  

A body is found in the local Utgard forest and Tuva is sent to investigate.  The dead man has been shot by a rifle and his eyes have been removed.  About 20 years before there were a series of 3 murders, the victims were all men, were all in the forest and they had also had their eyes removed.  The original murders had been nicknamed the Medusa killings.  

Within a few days yet another body is found.  Tuva has to overcome her fear of the dark forest to visit the few people who live there so that she can question them and find out what they know of the old and new killings.  One of the residents had been arrested as a suspect in the original murders but had been released without charge.  Tuva struggles to get the police to take her concerns seriously so she tries to find out who Medusa is on her own.   

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

Hercule Poirot is sitting alone in a London coffee house waiting for his evening meal to be served and a distressed young woman dashes in.  He starts to talk to her and she says she is afraid that she is about to be murdered.  She does not want help and does not want her killer to be brought to justice.  

At about the same time three dead bodies are discovered at The Bloxham Hotel.  They are in three different rooms but the scenes are the same and each body has a monogrammed cuff-link in their mouths.  Poirot starts to investigate.  He fears that there is a link between the murders and the scared young women who seems to now have disappeared. 

This is the first Hercule Poirot mystery that Sophie Hannah has written.  

Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah

Naomi Jenkins is the 'other woman', she has been seeing Robert Haworth every Thursday afternoon for the last year.  When Robert fails to turn up to their meeting one week, and Naomi can't contact him, she is convinced that something terrible has happened.  

After a few days of trying to make contact she reports him to the police as a missing person.    The police aren't really convinced.  They visit Robert's home and his wife says he is away for a few days staying with friends.  

In a desperate bid to make the police look for Robert, Naomi visits them again and reports that he has raped her.  She wants them to think that he is dangerous so that they will search for him.  She tells them the date the rape occurred and lots of very specific details about what happened.  She is providing details of what really happened to her a few years before she met Robert.  

When the police do start to investigate they find evidence that other women have experience the exact same thing and have told very similar stories to Naomi.  They now need to find what links all these cases and if Robert Haworth is actually involved.