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Tuesday, 18 July 2023

The Proof in the Pudding by Rosemary Shrager

This is the second Prudence Bulstrode story. 

Pru, with the help of her granddaughter Suki, is tasked with preparing a meal for all the villagers of Scrafton Busk.  The meal finishes with her famous figgy pudding, in which a young boy discovers an old coin.  

Outside in the snow the dead body of Terry Chandler is found entombed in a snowman which was built a few days ago on the village green.  Terry's brother is arrested but with the intervention of Pru is finally released without charge.  He receives a letter from Terry directing him to Mystery Hills where he claims hidden treasure will be found.  

The Lies Within by Jane Isaac

This is  DI Will Jackman story.  

Following a family wedding, the body of teenage student Jo Lamborne is discovered in a country lane. Grace, her mother, is distraught.  The police don't seem to be getting anywhere with the case although her murder is quite similar to that of another young woman.   

Grace bumps into Faye in a supermarket.  She and Faye used to go to the same school.  Faye seems to be the only person Grace can talk to and together they visit some of Jo's friends to see what they can find out.  

The story starts with Grace being on trial for a murder. 

Saturday, 8 July 2023

Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop by Ali McNamara

Kate moved to St Felix to open her own craft shop where she sells craft items and also lots of her own designs.  She accepts the gift of an old sewing machine which has come from a house clearance.  It will look good in her shop window.  

Jack, the new owner of a local art shop, has bought an old artist easel which came from the same house clearance.  Strange things start to happen with the sewing machine and easel which point Kate and Jack towards an old love story.  As they investigate the strange happenings and the lives of Clara and Arty they are also drawn to each other.  

It's not unusual for strange things to happen in St Felix.  

We Used to Live Here by Daniel Hurst

Shortly after moving into their new home Steph and Grant Burgess receive a visit from an elderly couple.  They say that they used to live in the house in the 1960s and ask if they can come in and have a look around.  Step enjoys meeting them and lets them look around.  Soon after, whilst decorating, Steph finds writing on a wall.  The first messages are just names and dates.  

Later, when a wall is being removed between two upstairs rooms, another hidden wall is discovered.  On this wall there are more messages but these are much more disturbing.  As Steph starts to investigate what has happened in the house, she discovers the old couple's son had gone missing and was never found.  

Saturday, 1 July 2023

Coming Home to Seashell Cottage by Jessica Redland

At the age of 16 Clare left her home in Ireland and travelled to England to live with an aunt.  She has never been back to Ireland or had any contact with her family.  She has never talked to anyone about Ireland, her family or why she had to leave.  

Now her boss is insisting that she has to go to Ireland to attend a meeting.  Whilst there she can't resist having a quick visit to the village of Ballykielty where she grew up.  As she sees familiar places echoes of old memories creep back into her mind.  Can she finally stand up to her parents?  

Suddenly a lot is changing in her life and she has to face her past.  

Death Do They Part by J D Whitelaw

This is the second book in the Parker Sisters series. 

Martha, Helen and Geri Parker are devastated to hear that their mother has been killed in a hit and run accident.  They are determined to find the driver involved.  

Then some bodies disappear from the local morgue, including the body of their mother.  Now they need to find her body as well as the driver who killed her.  

Manhunter by Chris Ryan

During a royal wedding in London a local mobster is murdered.  It looks like an attack carried out by the Russians.  In his dying breath the mobster gives some information to Josh Bowman who is acting as a body guard for an African President attending the wedding.  There had been rumours of a death threat against the visiting President so the Intelligence Agencies had put together a 4 man team to protect him.  

Bowman is then recruited into 'The Cell' which is a secret unit within the SAS.  They fly over to France on a mission and then end up uncovering a plot against a tyrant in Africa and are drawn into an African takeover coup.  There are a lot of rebels for the small team to fight whilst protecting an important family, they have a limited supply of ammunition and it's a number of hours before reinforcements are due to land.